The Last One
by Bahamut Slayer
Summary: Summary reviewed. Chapte 16 FINALLY updated! It was the promise of a life time, and he had kept it. That was how it all started and how it changed eveything, including a certain blonde shinobi. Rate and review. Naruto X OC
1. So it begins

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

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This is my first written fiction. If I'm violating anything or breaking any rules or laws, please tell me. Now, the story begins.

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The Hidden Village of the Leaf, Konohagakure seemed to have stabilized after several years recovering from the attack of Sound and the Sand. Everything seemed to going as usual while the sun began to rise up behind the Hokage monument. The usual villagers opened their windows and shops as they began to prepare for the new day that lay ahead of them. People slowly began to flock the streets while some Leaf-nins began to take their morning shifts near the guard towers, city walls, and patrol areas.

Inuzuka Kiba was doing his usual dog walking, but this time he was riding on his dog companion, Akamaru. Akamaru began renewing out his territory posts as he 'marked out' the tree branches and stumps. He noticed the usual Jounin guard began arguing with some oddly dressed visitors at the Konoha City Gate.

"Oi! What seems to be problem here?" asked Kiba out loud as he got off Akamaru.

There were five of the Leaf-nins that stood guard. One of the Jounin guards, one that wore a pair of glasses, took notice, "Oh, Kiba. Didn't notice you there. The usual morning walk around the forest grounds with Akamaru, huh? It's nothing really. Sugiyama here is just having some problems with these so-called 'visitors'."

Kiba leaned to the right slightly as he looked pass the Jounin guard to see Sugiyama talking to the 'visitors'. As Kiba looked closely, he found out all of them were wearing ANBU masks under the hood, bodies each completely covered by a sand brown cloak

"Again, I ask you people for identification documents and permission slips please," asked Sugiyama, the Jounin guard angrily as he held out his hand.

"Humph, we already showed ours to the ANBU border patrol guards. This is getting really annoying you know," replied a female voice behind a blue fox mask. She began handing the papers towards him.

The other three began showing their own, Kiba could hear a manly voice grumbling from the tallest one as he held out his paper. Kiba was curious of the other two shorter figures, as they remained practically quiet.

"Sand-nins?" asked Sugiyama as he inspected each paper, "So you people are here for what?"

"For the Jounin exams," the tallest figure answered boringly. He then elaborated, "We're Kazekage's elites, here to inspect the situation before hand. He'll arrives the day after tomorrow."

"You know, inspecting the grounds and such." added the kunoichi behind the fox mask.

"Yes, I'm fully aware of that." replied Sugiyama angrily with a forced smile since he felt that they were looking down upon him. 'Arrogant jerks, we were the ones that beat you back in the Sound and Sand attack.'

For no reason, the Sand kunoichi radiated a strong killing intent that sent chilling cold crawl under the Jounin's skin. He felt like he was standing naked, out in the middle of winter.

"Well then, May I see what's under those cloaks of yours?" asked Sugiyama hesitantly. "For security reasons, you know…"

"You've got to be kidding me…" sighed the tallest figure but one of the shorter figures stepped forward.

"It's best if we just comply to their demands for now," assured one of the slightly shorter figures. This one wore a red cat mask "The faster, the better."

The only ANBU figure that hasn't spoken gave a nod of approval towards his other teammates.

'I guess the quiet one is the leader or captain of the team," assessed Kiba as he eyed that particular quiet figure.

All four of them complied as they threw back the cloaks behind their shoulders that now resembled like thick capes. Kiba definitely wasn't expecting the gears that each of them was wearing. The Sand's ANBU uniforms were definitely unlike the Leaf's for sure. They were simply wearing the usual Suna Jounin and Chuunin vest, which differed from Konoha's own. The shoulder parts were armor plated, but still had the various pockets that were used to hold small scrolls.

'Humph, our ANBU forces are definitely mush better than the Sand's. They don't have o carry around a lot of scrolls and weapons like these amateurs. Our ANBU guards here only carry simple armor guards and sometimes a simple mid length katana. I bet me and Akamaru can beat the shit out of all of these guys.' thought Kiba as he observed each from a far.

"Are you done!" demanded the ANBU kunoichi as she strapped back a kunai holster on each thigh.

"Eer…yes. However, I'll have to let our chief security have a look on these papers first before we can let you in. Just to confirm whether these papers are authentic." Replied Sugiyama.

"Oh come on! I'm getting tired of this. If you think we're imposters, then you seemed to have miss another point." shouted the tallest figure. "We could have killed these ANBU guards and take their papers and…"

The tallest figure didn't manage to finish as the kunoichi suddenly gave a slap at the back of his head.

"You just can't standstill without making things worse, can you?" asked the female shinobi angrily.

"Oh yes I can, how about I about I do this?" challenges the tallest figure as he grabbed his ANBU mask, and was going to take it off. At the same moment his hand touched the mask, the quiet one suddenly radiated a killing intent that would put the kunoichi's to shame. Sugiyama froze in fear as he took the blast most , since he stood the closest. Then, Kiba found himself trembling while he felt Akamaru by his side slowly back away, lying flat on the ground, and whimpered in fear too.

The Jounin guards that were afar took notice as the scary vibe pulsed in the air. They also found their bodies solid stiff as a chill ran down their spine, unable to move.

"I suggest you take those papers to whoever your chief security as soon as possible…." said the cat masked ANBU in a weak manner.

The scary aura suddenly vanished as though they were never there in the first place. Sugiyama sprinted as fast as he can through the Konoha gates the moment he felt his body could move.

The tallest figure turned his head at his captain and spoke again, "Eeeer…sorry?"

At the eastern wall of Konohagakure, Sugiyama had finally found the special ranked Jounin, Morino Ibiki standing guard amongst several other Jounin guards. Morino Ibiki had looked completely bored the whole time as he carefully looked through the papers.

"Everything seems to be in order, you don't actually have to show me these." muttered Ibiki as he handed the papers back. He pointed towards a seal at the bottom of each paper, "It has the Kazekage's official seal right here. I bet you've already forgotten that I told you before, that Hokage-sama were expecting them."

"Well, they were kind of suspicious and one of them radiated a really crazy killing intent. I thought I was going to die back there."

Morino Ibiki sighed, "One, they're ANBU members of the Sand. Two, these papers already told you that they're Kazekage's elite guards. You think the Sand would have hired weak shinobis as their leader's guards after having their very own Yondaime Kazekage killed when he was going on the trip to watch the Chuunin exam?"

Sugiyama remained quiet, and never felt this ashamed in his entire life as he stood in front of Ibiki.

"You better get going now, you don't want to keep those Sand-nins waiting any longer do you?" advised Ibiki as he turned back towards his station.

Sugiyama paled instantly before running back towards his post as fast as his feet could carry him. When finally reached the Konoha gates, he found that only three of the Sand-nins were still standing there. When he looked at the ground, he found that the tallest one was laying face flat on the floor with three bumps on the head that pretty much was still smoking.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," apologized Sugiyama as he handed back the papers to the one with the cat mask, "You may enter now."

The ANBU Sand-nins walked through without saying anything as the tall one finally got up and jogged to catch up on his team.

"That went better than I thought," said the one with cat mask once they were out of the guards' earshot.

The kunoichi with the blue fox mask gave a chuckle, "I guess we'll have to thank the Kazekage for that."

"Finally….the last one," expressed the tall one all of a sudden as he took out a scroll from his pocket.

"After all those times of hunting each one of them down," added the female shinobi as she counted her fingers off. "We'll finally be able finish this."

"Oh how my miss their terrified faces. Hehehehe.." laughed the tall one as he took off one of his gloves.

It revealed an odd, gray colored skin hand which then he slightly raised his mask to also revealed more gray colored skin. His mouth opened to show sharp, shark like teeth. He bit his thumb and slid it across the scroll and followed with a small ninja-smoking explosion. As the smoke cleared, a hilt of a sword with a miniature skull at its end had protruded from the scroll. The gray colored skin hand wrenched it out. A huge six feet long sword wrapped in strips of white cloth was now being held to the back of the tall one. The cloak covered the whole wrapped blade, but the hilt still could be seen sticking out from the back of his neck.

"Kisame, Is it wise to carry that thing around without raising suspicions?" asked the one with the red cat mask.

"The Leaf-nins know that Mist-nins aren't the only ones that huge swords as weapons." elaborated the tall one, "They know that a lot of Sand-nins use big swords."

"Then you should've let that Leaf-nin inspected that before we entered," said the female shinobi while their captain still remained quiet by her side.

"Baaaah! I won't let some weak pitiful strangers touch my precious Samehada," replied the tall one in slightly higher tone.

"I wonder what would have happened to his hands if he held your precious sword up high as he inspected it."

"I bet the fool couldn't even lift Samehada up pass his head with both of his hands." commented Kisame.

"You'd think Konoha would stationed more and better guards around than those fools." sighed the female shinobi. "I'd bet they wouldn't even put up a good fight."

"Well, the last I came here to Konoha. Itachi placed a sleeping Genjutsu on the guard. They only stationed one guy only back then." replied the Samehada wielder. "Talk about the lack of security around here."

"How about that huge white dog and the boy that stood not to far from us?" asked the cat masked ANBU, "Don't you think he'll cause any troubles?"

The captain of the ANBU group gave a deep thought, and looked at his female teammate as though they were talking. The young lady nodded for what seems to be no reason and finally said, "Oh don't worry about that."

"And why would that be?" asked the troubled teammate.

"The kid and the dog could've only smelled the faint smell of blood and sand from our clothes." Answered the kunoichi.

Their captain stopped as they finally caught the glimpse of the Hokage monuments. The other three also stopped by the side of their leader. The leader looked through the carved faces that were the five Hokages of Konoha. He found that they added a fifth one that was the face of a woman with small diamond shaped marking on the forehead.

Their leader finally spoke "He is the last one…."

"And we'll finally get to finish this." ended the kunoichi with the blue fox mask.

"How I would like to see his pitiful scared face all over again," said Kisame as he made sharky grin behind the blue streaked fish mask and gave a tight grip on Samehada's hilt. The large katana vibrated at his back.

The ANBU with the cat mask flexed his fingers out of excitement as he surveyed the buildings, the streets, and the very city that was the Hidden Village of the Leaf. The kunoichi behind the blue fox mask hummed a song of suspense. She turned to look at their captain as though she knew he was going to speak.

"By the time they realize this, it will all be to late…." said their leader as he looked down on the people that were bustling through the streets. "Nothing will stop us this time,"

"Not even their Hokage," said Kisame as he looked at the stone graved face of Tsunade.

"I'll show all of them. How wrong and gravely mistaken they were. The power...The Power of Tailed Beasts" said the ANBU captain through a red canine Oni mask.

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Kinoichi (female shinobi)


	2. A walk around town

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

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The story might be boring at the beginning, but I'm trying to develop it for now. Everything will be explained as the story progresses.

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Inuzuka Kiba couldn't help but think there was something bothering him about those four so called Sand-nins that just passed him. He shook his head, slowly climbed and sat himself comfortably on Akamaru's back. 'What the heck was that? I couldn't even move that whole time. They had a faint smell of sand and blood all over them. Of course, it seems pretty logic that they are ANBU and they're from Suna. But their captain's scary mask…"

Kiba ruffled Akamaru's head to comfort him, "Hey buddy, got anything you want to say in this?"

Akamaru gave out several barks, which made Kiba's face pale a little.

"The tall one and their leader seem to have some monstrous freaking high chakra reserves…?"

Akamaru gave a bark of confirmation.

"Man…are guys from the Sand always weird and strong? I mean between Gaara's sand and Kankurou's puppets, makes me really wonder how many other freaks they have in the sand." commented Kiba.

Sugiyama slowly walked back to his post, ready to face and answer the other guards' curious faces and questions.

"Come on Akamaru, another round of air dynamic mark!" exclaimed Kiba as loud as he could.

Akamaru replied back with a loud bark, and jumped off.

The guards couldn't help but feel sorry for the travelers that would be walking through the forests. May be they should make a complaint or two to their Hokage about the matter. But, then again, there was never a fuss from any traveler as they enter the city.

At the Hokage tower, Tsunade was one really pissed woman. She was facing several stacks of paper on her table: report, contracts, and other documents ready to be read and signed. The more she would delay them, the taller the stacks would be. All she was thinking at the moment was using a Katon jutsu, and watch them burn down while drinking a bottle of Sake. Her eyes were glaring, her hands were twitching, and her jaws were clenched tight.

Several knocks on the door were heard just as she was brainstorming several seals for a simple Katon and what the outcome would be, when Shizune and the council would find out what she had done.

"Come in," said Tsunade boringly as she succumbed to the duties of being the Godaime Hokage.

Shizune walked in with Ton-Ton, Tsunade's pet pig, in her arms. She could only see the upper part of Tsunade's head behind the stacks of paper before letting Ton-Ton go on the floor. The prized pig quickly ran off into Tsunade's waiting arms.

"I know what you're thinking Tsunade-sama," said Shizune.

"Then help drowse these papers with some sake," joked Tsunade with Ton-Ton on her lap. "I think I still have some spare sake bottles in that cupboard."

"Hai…." sighed Shizune. (Note: It's a sigh, she's not agreeing or yes in Japanese.)

"You think the stack of papers would decrease once Konoha had stabilize after the past three years." complained Tsunade as she took a look at one of the document from the whole stack. She threw it back onto the top of the pile. "But no….the stack of papers just stays the same or may be it's slowly getting bigger without me noticing."

"Tsunade-sama, you've been doing this after all this time, surely you would have gotten used to this, juggling your job and training Sakura-san." replied Shizune.

"Yeah, but sometimes I just let Sakura sort out which document that just merely needs signing."

Shizune was relieved when she heard Tsunade opening one of her desk drawers, thinking that Tsunade was going to start working. She was confused and curious when she saw Tsunade pull out a long measuring tape. The Fifth Hokage unraveled a little of it, and then began measuring the stacks of paper.

She mumbled to herself as she got her first measurement, "Hmm….this one is 45cm high. I knew it! They're slowly getting taller! Yesterday's one was only 44.7cm high. Hmm…how about the other ones?"

A large sweat drop formed on both Shizune and Ton-Ton's head as Tsunade moved on the other stacks of paper with the measuring tape.

There were more knocks on the door, but from the sound of it, it was definitely urgent. Shizune quickly rushed to the door to open it after Tsunade's approval nod. Morino Ibiki walked in without his usual uptight face, but changed a little when he thanked Shizune. He definitely looked like one of the last person any enemy shinobi wants to pass with: standing 193.5 cm tall, a long black jacket over a gray vest, with two long scars trailing over his face.

"Hokage-sama, apparently the group of ANBU sent by the Kazekage has just arrived and are already in the city for inspection." Reported Ibiki, as he stood tall in front of the desk.

"So? What's the problem?" asked Tsunade, still oblivious to Ibiki's serious face.

"I've checked their entry documents and such," answered Ibiki, "I just didn't realize until now that those ANBU were them…."

"What do you mean 'them'?" asked Tsunade, now angrily.

After several minutes, the two of ANBU guards that were stationed at the Hokage tower entrance could hear a shout had sent all the birds around flying away, "WHAAAAAT!"

In the streets of Konoha,

The Sand ANBU team slowly made their way through the streets that was now filled with people. Kisame glanced around as found there were a lot of kids that were wearing Konoha-hitae protectors on their heads. Everywhere he looked, he'd see at least three or four people wearing them, adults, teenagers, or even kids.

"It looks like the Leaf-nins and their forces seem to be doing fine." commented Kisame.

"A lot of them graduated the Genin tests over the past three years," said the one in the cat mask, "The ninja academies all over Fire Country had focused their teachings, trainings, and education over those years. With the extensive teachings, they were able to produce a lot of Genins time. Thus, their numbers increased in addition to all the Gennins."

"I hope they don't just graduate totally pathetic weaklings out of desperation," commented the kunoichi in the fox blue mask.

"You know, Asami, just because you were one heck of a kunoichi even at a toddler's age doesn't mean everyone is." replied the one in the cat mask.

The female shinobi behind the mask laughed out of no reason. "Speak for yourself, hypocrite, you and I have no much difference on how we were brought up and trained as a shinobi."

She gave a light punch at her teammate at the shoulders, but didn't care the yelp of pain that came from her victim. He rubbed his right shoulder back and forth, 'Great, now I'll have to check for any sign of bruises or may be even bone fractures for that matter.'

People around them gave a stare while some tried to avoid them as the group progressed through the streets. The hilt of Samehada that protruded behind Kisame caught most of attention. While others were wondering how could one walk around in that sort of uniform all the time. Wearing an ANBU mask underneath a hood that was a part of the cloak. The sand brown cloak then trailed down, only to stop near the ankles. There was definitely air ventilation, how they could stand the unbearable heat was unknown. It was just the start of the day, it wasn't too cold or too hot. Some pedestrians were curious enough to stop and stood there and watched them walked by, and later continue walking.

"Oh Kami-sama, why did you have to bless me with good looks that even under this cloak, they would stop and admire me?" asked Kisame.

"The day people would say your face is even passed as normal is the day fishermen of the Wave Country would marry the fish they catch." said Asami as she looked up to the taller shinobi on her left.

Out of all the four, Asami was clearly the shortest. Kisame was also clearly the tallest, by one head at least. One would judge those under the mask would at least be around 19 at least.

"I'm still surprised that no Leaf-nin has decided to come and ask questions like the guard before. I mean, with this ANBU uniform and Kisame's huge sword, and the…"

Just as they made their way, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Sai were walking from the opposite direction. Uchiha Sasuke was wearing a Chuunin vest over his usual deep blue shirt with the collar that leveled near his chin. A few things had changed: on both of his short sleeves, the Uchiha symbol of a red and white fan could clearly be seen. His hair was definitely longer though, and was definitely as tall as any average 15 year old should be. He changed his usual white short pants to the long black pants like his Jounin instructor, with the kunai holster strapped on his right thigh.

Kakashi didn't seem to have change at all. He still kept his hitae-headband tilted over his left eye, to hide the transplanted Sharingan. He was even walking around while reading his usual orange porn novel in his right hand. The only thing that changed was the title of the book in his hand at least, the book that once titled 'Icha Icha Paradise' was now 'Icha Icha Panic: Prequel Edition'.

Sakura still kept her pink hair short, just passing her ears and centimeters away from touching her shoulder. She now wore a pair of brown fingerless gloves; her clothes remained pretty much the same except it had no sleeves at all and the addition of a skirt and shinobi combat boots.

Of course in the addition of Sai of the 'Roots', he was there replacing Naruto's position until he would return back from Jiraiya's training. Kakashi had thought about having two Sasuke in Team 7 was definitely too much. But he couldn't really argue against Tsunade's decision, much less the whole council's decision. Which only consisted of two Village elders that were in the same Genin team with the old man Third Hokage.

As the groups closed in, each member of Team 7 found themselves staring at a counter part from the Sand ANBU team.

Sai had his eyes moved away and observed the four ANBU Sand-nins as each of them got closer and closer with every step. The hilt of Kisame's Samehada caught his attention even though he remained calm and collective. He still had the usual annoying, stupid smile on his face. Meanwhile Sasuke was looking at the captain that wore the mask that definitely gave a whole new meaning to word creepy.

The leader wore an Oni (Demon) mask that was totally covered in blood red, unlike the animal ANBU masks the other three wore. It had that weird scary wide grin, from cheek to cheek, that revealed long dagger like fangs. One could tell it was canine like animal from the canine teeth that stood out longer from the rest and slight narrow muzzle. A few inches from the eyeholes, the horns shot out like a pair of spikes that somehow could barely recognized as ears.

Kakashi couldn't help but look at the one in the cat mask, though his counterpart seemed to be idly looking through the shops on both sides of the street. However, Sai tried to remain calm and collected with his usual 'happy' smile on his face as he looked from the corner of his eyes.

Sakura was looking straight at Asami, trying to achieve eye contact. Asami narrowed her eyes as both kunoichis' eyes met. Finally Sasuke, Sai, and Sakura turned their attentions at the captain, the one that was totally powerful by appearance. He was definitely by far radiating the most chakra from his body compared the rest.

All eight of them stopped as they were just centimeters away from just walking into each other. More pedestrians were curious and others were chanting 'Fight! Fight! Fight!' in their heads. The people gathered around as they stopped from any of their activities.

The one in the cat mask was the first to speak, "It's rude to stare at someone you know."

"That's quite an interesting sword you got there," commented Sai, still with the stupid smile on his face.

Kisame didn't say anything, something that totally surprised Asami. She nudged Kisame in the gut so he would say something, but Kisame remained quiet. She looked at him and somehow understood why. She replied, "It is, isn't it? Do you want to see it?"

"Yes please," answered Sai calmly with full etiquette.

Kisame gave a shark grin behind the mask and he single handedly pulled upon the hilt of Samehada out and drove an uppercut right towards Sai's head. The spectators didn't even have the time to gasp or shriek from such speed. However, all members of Team 7 with the exception of Sai took out their kunai, and prepared to block the sword. The impact never came, since the Tenken sword stopped just as it was going to touch any of the kunai.

"It is one fine sword, thank you very much for showing it to me," said Sai as he observed Kisame. He didn't even budge or faze from the attack. Kisame was really impressed upon this strange unknown shinobi as he pulled back his precious weapon back into the cloak.

"I trust you are the special ANBU guards of the Kazekage?" asked Kakashi for confirmation. He had put the orange novel book back into its proper place in his vest long before both group stopped.

The captain stepped forward, gave a nod, and bowed down towards Kakashi. His team members didn't realize this was coming from their leader.

"Humph," was only thing that Sasuke react.

"Though I must agree with my student here," said Kakashi as he turned to Sai. Sai definitely didn't like the word student as there was a twitch in his left eye upon hearing the word. "You really have one interesting sword there."

Kisame got the urge to gloat around about his divine sword, but it never came out. He was about to say something when his captain once again released the freakish killing aura at Kisame, which rippled out like a wave to everyone that stood there. Of course Kisame took full once again as it totally concentrated towards him. Kisame backed away slightly and bowed down in apology.

His captain turned away, took a good look at the faces of the watching spectator that had stood there, or walked by, now frozen with in their place out of fear and their faces sweating. Even Sai stood there unable to move from the effect.

The perpetrator ushered his teammates to move on as they walked past the still frozen Leaf-nins. As he passed Sakura, he whispered just loud enough for only Sakura to hear.

"Arigato gozaimas, Haruno Sakura."

The four of them leaped over the still frozen spectators and disappeared in a swirl of sand as they were in mid air.

Several meters away, the four ANBU members materialized on top of a building. They made their way to the residential building where the Kazekage and all Sand-nins will be staying during the Jounin exams. They made their way through the reception counter: Asami took the keys to the rooms that they'll be staying. It was two rooms connected together by a door. As they walked up the stairs, they met with a Jounin ranked Sand-nin. More precisely, it was Baki, the Jounin that was once the instructor of Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou. Asami couldn't help but suppress her laughter as they bowed down and passed one another.

They entered the room and stopped right at in front of a guest table and some couches.

"Oh Kami-sama, I thought we'd never find this place." expressed the captain whom suddenly had a drastic change in behavior.

"It seems that you've finally settled down," said the one the red decorated cat mask.

"Shut it, Kabuto." Replied the captain.

"Yup, definitely settled it alright." commented Asami.

Kabuto asked, "Was that really necessary? You scared us half to death, twice! I'd have to say that we're definitely drawing attentions to ourselves. Don't you agree, Kisame-san?"

"Don't tell me you're much too scared to speak. I didn't know my killing intents were that powerful." mused the captain as he gave a look on Kisame.

"Scared?" repeated Kisame, "You pull one of that silly stunts again I'll cut your butt in half, making two to four!"

The whole atmosphere around them seemed to have taken a drastic change when the captain gave out a laugh. Kabuto and Asami joined in the laughter, though Kisame still remained pretty pissed.

"You definitely had us worried when you just stood there all quiet, doing nothing, in front of Kakashi and his team." Said Asami as she recovered from her laughter.

"You gave out the last killing intent just to scare the hell out of those people and Team 7, didn't you? Not because I was going to talk," demanded Kisame.

"Looks like someone didn't like the idea of being replaced by a weak happy go lucky shinobi, isn't that right, Naruto?" asked Kabuto as he turned his head. After sensing the coast was clear, he was the first to take off his white bone ANBU mask and lowered his brown hood. He still wore his pair of glasses, though under the bangs of slightly longer white hair.

The captain took off his mask and hood, letting the bright spiky yellow hair free. He still had the three whiskers marks on each cheek, though they were somehow longer. His dark blue eyes narrowed upon hearing the words of his teammate. He snorted, "Hah, I couldn't care any less."

"You definitely took a heavy risk in talking with Copy Cat Kakashi, him and your teammates could have recognized your voice." said Kisame as he followed suit in taking of the mask and cloak.

"Ex-teammates," corrected Naruto as he threw the mask onto the table. "After not seeing them for three whole years, had Kyuubi age my body by another three years, including my now matured broken voice. Who could have even relate that the captain of a special ANBU force is actually the dead last Uzumaki Naruto?"

"He's got you there, Kisame." muttered Kabuto as he sat down on a three-seated leather couch.

"If they did recognize and capture you, man I can't wait to see how they would even react." replied Kisame as he put down Samehada and leaned it onto a wall.

"If they could catch me that is," mused Naruto as he sat on a couch opposite to Kabuto. "I'd like to see if they could even touch me."

Asami took of her blue fox mask, revealing a much stunning beautiful young kunoichi. She lowered and disentangled her cloak; as she let the shoulder length, blazing red hair free. She sat right next to Naruto and gave him a light punch on the shoulders.

Naruto winced in pain, as he slowly rubbed the spot and let Kyuubi's chakra heal any damages. Kabuto somewhat looked relieved only when Asami would hit anybody but him.

"Don't get too cocky," warned Asami with a smile.

"I won't." said Naruto as he replied Asami's smile with his own foxy grin. He looked at his three teammates, "Now let's finish this one once and for all."

All four of them said in unison with excitement on every word.

"To kill the last of the Sound. That Snake bastard, Orochimaru."

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	3. Revelations

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.**

Thank you so much ZeroX1999, for giving my first review. I'll be filling in on some of the things that happened. Enjoy!

Asami opened her eyes to see Naruto leaned forward from his seat and took a card from Kabuto's hand. Even Kisame had a fan of cards in his right hand, though he lay back on the chair and was had his full attention on the cards.

"Don't tell me you guys are already looking through Kabuto's collection of cards." Mumbled Asami as she stretched from her seat. She decided to take a little snooze after arriving.

"We're not." Replied Kabuto as he took a card from Kisame's hand.

Asami was oblivious to what they were doing at the moment, which was until she spotted a heap of cards on the table.

"Wait….I can't believe you guys are actually playing 'Old Maid'." Complained Asami as she took a pair of cards, from the heap, which had a picture of cows on them.

"Why? You want to join?" asked Naruto. He got a card with the picture of a farmer from Kabuto, and set it on the table with his own.

Asami didn't really know what to say at the moment and except, "Whatever."

Kisame looked relieved as he gathered the cards and put the 'Old Maid' card from his hand into the pile. Kabuto gave a smile and shuffled back the cards together.

"Just to let you know, Kabuto used to have this thing for cards ever since I met him in the Chuunin exams. However, he was still with that bastard Orochimaru back then." Explained Naruto as he took his share of distributed cards. "He could display the status of Shinobis, their missions, and stuff.."

"We kind of got bored and decided to play a game of cards." Added Kabuto.

"And you guys actually picked a game of 'Old Maid' ?" asked Asami.

"Some things in life are better left simple. The rules, the objective of the game, and…." Answered Naruto.

"Tell me one thing that's good and simple." asked Asami as she took a card from his hand.

"Our lives for instance." Answered Naruto directly.

He definitely had the attention of everyone now even though each one of them would absent-mindedly take a card from the other's hand.

"We just take missions that we're interested in, enjoy doing them, and come back with the dough. Safe from all those politics and crap the village has to offer. We don't have to mingle with to many people in the process. Like training Gennins, keeping ties with the allies, discuss what good and bad for the village, and such." Explained Naruto.

"And you used to crave for the attention from these Leaf-nins." Teased Kabuto who was now in the lead.

"What can I say. You do everything to help the very people that hated and wanted to kill you, hear the truth from a Demon inside your head, get stabbed in the back by the one of the people you hold precious, move out, taken prisoner by some cultists who think they're saving the world, life was just crazy with the whole complications and too many relationships thing back then." Expressed Naruto as he was once again the lead, down with only a card in his hand.

"Don't forget to mention that you managed to break and destroy that very cultist group from the inside out." Reminded Kisame as he thought his days in Akatsuki.

"So what's the plan?" asked Asami with mild anger in her tone. She had the 'Old Maid' card in her hand and wanted to change the subject.

Naruto whim had already finished laid back and did all the answering, "Kabuto will gather the information about the snake bastard. Talk to Baki to everything there is about each Jounin exam candidates. Try to hear any rumours around and such . I'm sure he's disguising as one of them, probably as a Grass-nin like when I was in my first Chuunin exam."

Kabuto nodded and asked, "Would you like some instant Ramen while I go out around town?"

"Yeah, thanks for the offer," answered Naruto. He noticed Asami was giving her version of the killing intent, and quickly paled. "One will do just fine…."

Kisame stood up triumphant with his trademark shark grin after taking a card from Asami's hand. Now only Kabuto and Asami were left, and she still had the 'Old Maid' card in her hand.

"I'm sorry Kisame, but you'll just have to stay here. You're definitely going to raise suspicions if you go out. And I don't care even if you're going under a Henge," commanded Naruto. Kisame wasn't the least cooperative and liked to do this his way, pretty mush like how Naruto used to, but totally to a whole new reckless level.

Kisame didn't like what he was hearing.

"You're really one bossy kid, you know that? You're just like Itachi when it's mission mode. I never really liked the idea of including Itachi in teaching you back when you were locked up in the cave prison." Replied Kisame annoyingly.

"So what? I can still kick you're butt even if Itachi never taught me." Argued Naruto.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try without using his tricks and tapping into Kyuubi's chakra." Challenged Kisame.

Naruto stood up, "All I need to kick your sorry ass is just use Kaetsu's teaching and ….."

He realized his mistake in saying that name and quickly turned to Asami. She suddenly saddened as memories flashed through her mind. Even Kisame seemed to have lost his anger.

Naruto tried to speak, "I…I…I'm sorry."

'No, it's my fault." Interjected Kisame.

She tried her best to smile, "If Otou-san were alive, he wouldn't like see the both of you bickering each other up to this point. Let's just concentrate on finishing this mission. Even Otou-san never like Orochimaru when he was in Akatsuki."

"Yeah…let's just do that," agreed Naruto and Kisame.

"Tell you what, why don't you let Kisame follow me around town." Suggested Kabuto.

Naruto had a worried look on his face, but definitely didn't like the idea of fighting with Kisame ever again.

"I promised I'll look after him." Assured Kabuto as he packed up the cards.

"Hey! I'm not some toddler, you know! I'm by far the oldest compared to all you three!" exclaimed Kisame.

The rest didn't seem to pay attention. Naruto finally agreed reluctantly.

Both Naruto and Kisame had a sense of guilt, though Kabuto didn't really much understand. Back when the whole Akatsuki took in Naruto, there was suddenly an internal conflict in the group. Raiha, one of the strongest Akatsuki members in the group, decided to betray by turning convincing Deidara, Zetsu, Sasori, and the other two against Itachi, Kisame, and Raetsu. Raiha, a wanted S-Ranked Cloud-nin, was paranoid about the strength of Itachi's Magenkyou Sharingan and how Kisame and Raetsu were close to him. Raetsu, a missing-nin from the Snow, was the only one aware of such conspiracy and finally thought of a plan to get back at them.

Of course, Kyuubi realized long ago he could to torture his Jinchuuriki by simply channeling his chakra into the boy's thoughts. Kyuubi only realized this when he shared his chakra back when Naruto defeated Sasuke at the Valley of the End. Stating the truth that the boy had been denying all his life, being stabbed by a close friend, was all that Kyuubi and Raetsu ever needed to convince Naruto to join.

(Of course, the whole training and fighting concerning Akatsuki will be explained later on. For now, I can only tell you that Raiha and his gang lost, but he took Raetsu along with him. Hint: Raetsu was Asami's father. Okay?)

Kisame used a Henge and changed himself into a bald, old man that held a cane. Though the three of them knew that the cane of a disguised Samehada. Kabuto changed himself into an old woman, going out as a couple of senior citizens.

"Shouldn't you two talk with Baki first? I mean then you could know who you're looking for." Explained Asami.

"We are, just want to test that grouchy man first." Sneered Kisame as he approached the door.

"Then ask questions later," added Kabuto as he followed suit.

Just as Kisame was going to close the door, he paused and turned around to look at Asami and Naruto. He said a serious tone, "A word of advice."

"What?" asked Asami curiously.

Naruto however knew what was coming. He sneakily reached his hand into his shuriken holster.

"Now don't you two whipper snappers do anything funny while we're away." Said Kisame in an old man's accent. "I think Konoha would prefer their bed sheets clean.

If you know what I mean…"

Right when Kisame finished, he used his cane to deflect the shurikens that Naruto threw. His eyes bulged when several ice clear kunais zoomed their way towards his face. He quickly closed the door, and laughter could be heard through the corridor outside.

Both of them were still blushing red, but slowly revert back after standing there as several minutes passed.

"The nerve of that guy.." muttered Asami as she slowly stood up from the couch.

Naruto had a mischievous smile as another prank idea popped into his head. He could hear Kyuubi laugh out loud in his head, and neared Asami.

"I know a way to get back, care to join?" asked Naruto happily.

Asami already knew the sly grin that Naruto had. "Sure..."

"But for now, I think I'll just issue another order." Thought Naruto.

"And what would that be, _captain?" _ mused Asami as she followed Naruto into the master bedroom.

"Don't get your hopes high up; we need to save the main course for the plan tonight."

Smiled Naruto as he began kissing Asami's lips passionately.

"Then I guess I'll just have to settle with the appetizer for now," giggled Asami as she kissed him back when both them were lying down on the bed.

That night, Kisame didn't get a decent sleep or even close his eyes all thanks to all those certain 'noises' that he could hear coming from behind the wall where he slept. He definitely knew what was coming when he heard the moaning and grunting. Naruto somehow managed to convince Kabuto to take the other vacant room. Once Kisame entered his room to sleep for the day, Naruto finally began his plan. He had already placed a locking seal at Kisame's windows. All he had to do then was placing another locking seal on the door. He even added a special seal around Kisame's room where sound could travel in, but couldn't travel out. This is definitely one of the few occasions where Naruto would say, "Hitting two birds with one stone."

Meanwhile………

Sabaku no Gaara stood quietly in the Kazekage Tower, the building with slight blue paint on the roof and the kanji written 'Wind' near the rooftop. He was thinking about a certain ANBU team that should have reached Konohagakure by now. He heard the door of his office open, and turned to see the two Village Elders and his siblings enter the room quietly. Lady Chio, old man Ebizou, Temari, and Kankurou bowed in respect to Gaara, though he didn't seem pleased.

"How many times have I told not to do such thing?" asked Gaara in annoyance.

Kankurou said happily, "What thing? The whole bow down thing?"

Gaara replied, "I'm your brother, the least you could do is stop teasing me."

"Yet you are also the Kazekage of the Sand," reminded Lady Chio gently. "After all that pain you've been through all your life, you deserve such respect."

"She's right. It's been six months since you've been Kazekage and saved all the lives of Suna from the Akatsuki attack." Elaborated Ebizou as he gazed at the brewing sandstorm through the office window. "The villagers including us both have realized our grave mistakes in treating you in such manner all this time."

"After all this time, you craved for attention and acceptance from them. But now, our brother seems to be really troubled by all the attention his getting. Tell me, how's your obnoxious fan club doing these days?"

Gaara hadn't paid any attention to his brother's words as he once again began thinking about how Naruto and his team were doing.

Temari leaned onto a wall and asked, "Thinking about that troublesome team again?"

Gaara looked at his sister and merely replied, "You're spending too much time with that Shikamaru. He's definitely starting to rub off on you."

"You know, I always wondered why you volunteered on being sent on delegations to Konoha." Added Kankurou as he seated himself opposite to Gaara.

Ebizou and Lady Chio however were focused on the earlier subject.

"What kind of mission has the boy and his friends taken this time?" asked Ebizou curiously. "The usual S-Ranked mission like always?"

"They wanted me to issue some documents and permission slips for them to enter Konoha before they left." Answered Gaara as he looked through some papers.

Kankurou and Temari both raised an eyebrow in interest. Kankurou comfortably leaned on the chair and gave out a long whistle.

"He never stops surprising all of us, can he?" asked Kankurou, "Entering Konoha along with his friends, I wonder how those Leaf-nins are going to react if they find out? I bet they'll be really pissed that we actually took him in along with those missing-nins."

"Taking them in was one greatest thing that has ever happened in Suna ever since the people accepted Gaara. If it weren't for them, we couldn't have reached our current financial status." Said Lady Chio seriously.

"Tell me about it, those guys take in crazy S-Ranked missions and comes back here with happy faces like they were playing some sort of game. Hunting those wanted S-Ranked missing-nins, fighting battles with hostile shinobis in the country borders, and let us not forget that they totally thrashed the Hidden Sound all by themselves." Complained Temari as she rubbed her temple like she was having a migraine.

"And they actually accept only some of the money they earn from capturing those missing-nins, and give the rest to us. From all the S-Ranked and A-Ranked missions that they've pulled, we're lucky that more customers have come and seek our help in completing more missions." Added Kankurou as he looked at the picture of daimyos (landlords) that were hung on the wall.

"They don't seek riches in their lives. Each one of them had different goals in their lives. Money and living an easy life aren't one of them." Said Ebizou.

"To watch their very own hopes and dreams crumble before them." Mumbled Kankurou as he stared down at the floor.

"To be betrayed by the very people they hold precious to their hearts." Continued Temari as she had a look of pity to the ceiling.

"To realize all they had ever done in their life was nothing more but a lie." Said Lady Chio as she sat on a chair next to Kankurou.

"To be fight back, and live a cruel life." Ended Gaara as he rose up slowly from the chair.

He pulled the drawer of his table, and took out a picture frame. It was one of the rare occasions he would smile, and one of them was after gazing at the picture.

The four of them stood together, near Suna's entrance. It was the day they were accepted into Sunagakure and each one of them wore the Suna head-protector for the first time. Kisame had rested his Samehada on his shoulders, Naruto had his arms around Asami and Kabuto's neck, while Kabuto seemed pretty embarrassed. They looked like they were having the time of their lives once again.

_Just to let you know, Naruto is 18 years old. He started as Gennin at 12, add the three years, and Kyuubi's body enhancement. _

_I'm just new to this whole writing thing. However, the story is already made up in my mind all the way. I'm just trying to fill the missing gaps for now. The rest of the loopholes will just have to be explained later on in the coming chapters. I'll be updating at least twice a week since I have e pretty long holiday ahead of me. Please rate and review. Please! I mean 222 hits, and only 3 reviews! Help me here!_


	4. Meetings

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.**

Thank you so much for the reviews, I guess something is better nothing. I'll keep writing on, may be one of you that are already interested in the fiction could help me with the summary, just to make it more interesting. Rate and review, people! Please? A simple good or interesting is enough. I don't care if it's anonymous. I know the story is pretty hazy at the moment. Everyone wanted to know how Kabuto, Kisame, and Asami joined Naruto. Everything's going to explain as the story progresses. You'll just have to keep reading on and enjoy bit by bit. Enjoy!

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Naruto, Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto once again seated themselves at the guest table, though joined with Baki this time. Everyone wore their usual uniforms and even masks, well Baki wore the veil that covered the left side of his face. They were now in over-drive, there's only one day left to figure out everything. Though, the four of them didn't seem too nervous or worried. Baki was there just to hear what they had in mind for the treacherous snake, he really wanted Orochimaru to die a slow, painful death for killing Yondaime Kazekage, Gaara's father. Naruto didn't really care.

"So what do we have so far?" asked Naruto. "Just knowing who Orochimaru is disguising as is already enough."

"Apparently there's only four shinobis that has passed the written and field exam. They'll be fighting in the usual fighting match just like you took the Chuunin exam that time." Answered Kabuto.

"The same stages…" muttered Naruto as he recalled back the memories. His face showed that he didn't like them. "They should change that. Tsuchigakure of the Stone Country held a tougher and more interesting Jounin exam."

"Yeah, now I remember. Six stages of exam: the written test, out-field reconnaissance, a simple C Ranked mission, Taijutsu match, Nin jutsu match, and finally a match only using simple ninja weaponry." Added Asami.

"You got the info on the four of these participants?" asked Kisame.

"Yep," answered Kabuto as four orange cards flashed out of nowhere, into his hand.

He set all four of them on the table. The other three moved in nearer to the table to get a closer look on the cards. Baki didn't pay attention to this one, he already knew who they were since one of his Chuunin students were one of them.

"Ebora Shirou of the Hidden Waterfall. Age 24, 10 B-Ranked mission, 250 C-Ranked, 415 D-Ranked missions, specializes in Ninjutsu, and already failed the Jounin exams seven times. This is his eighth time." Explained Kabuto as Kisame hold on to one of the cards.

"You'd think he would just give up and settle for the simple Chuunin rank.' Commented

Kisame.

"Well, well, well. Look who do we have here." Mused Asami who picked up two cards

after Naruto finished looking through them.

"Yosuke Takagi of the Hidden Sand. You would know, he is one of Baki's talented students. The guy who could summon Ant lions." Said Kabuto who gave a glance at Baki. However, Baki didn't really care.

"Doesn't he need sand to fully utilize the power of an ant lion?" asked Asami.

"Summoning is merely one of his Ninjutsu. He knows a lot of Fuuton (Wind Element) and some Doton (Earth Element) jutsu." Said Baki all of a sudden.

"Well what happened to your other two students?" asked Asami who knew them. She was always at their training area when they had no missions.

"Chiro and Hirami? They were doing well, and would have gotten to the finals if it weren't for--" said Baki. But he never got to finish when Kabuto interrupted.

"Just look at the other card," directed Kabuto.

Asami threw the card of Yosuke Takagi on the table, and looked mildly interested on the face of the shinobi that was on the card.

"Uchiha Sasuke of the Hidden Leaf. He's only done 5 B-Ranked missions, 45 C-Ranked missions. He was under probation for 150 days when he returned to Leaf. He missed a Chuunin exam under that time, and only just got recommended for the Jounin exams this year." Elaborated Kabuto proudly. He was the best out of all the four in spying and reconnaissance.

"No wonders in that. We thrashed Sound down to the ground, and what do we find? Scardy cat Uchiha Sasuke. If it weren't for Itachi, I'd leave him there to rot." Said Asami as she handed the card to Kisame.

"You actually returned him to Konoha for the second time after that incident." Directed Kabuto towards Naruto whom had been silent the whole time.

Naruto finally spoke, "I brought his sorry ass three years ago, what do I get? More hatred from this stupid village and a backstabbing friend. A week after I went off with Erro Sennin, he runs off again to Orochimaru the moment e recovers. The bloody Jounins and Chuunin that were available couldn't even bring him back. Like Asami said, returning him to Konoha was just for Itachi's sake."

Naruto was looking between the card on Shirou and the card in his hand. Kabuto knew that look, the look that Kabuto had to get used to ever since he joined Naruto, Kisame, and Asami. It was a look of deep thought and strategizing.

"You haven't told us anything about this guy." Said Kisame as he leaned to his left to get a look on the last card in Naruto's hand.

"Yashiharu Taiyama of the Hidden Grass. She's definitely our prime suspect. She beat--"

replied Kabuto. But this time, it was Baki's turn to interrupt him.

"She beat Chiro with a simple glare. The Uchiha boy beat Hirami by using several ninjutsus that he probably copied with the Sharingan. Chiro recovered from the attack with the aid of Tsunade-sama and her apprentice." Interrupted Baki who now smiling at Kabuto.

"Shizune?" asked Naruto in curiosity.

"No, it was the pink haired kunoichi, you're ex-teammate Haruno Sakura. She was in the Jounin exam but failed in the preliminaries thanks to Shirou."

"So she's under Tsunade-obachan?" asked Naruto.

Asami scowled when Naruto seemed to be interested in Sakura. Naruto took notice and smiled, "Hey, if it weren't for her. All of us wouldn't be here under such circumstance."

"I might still be working under Orochimaru," added Kabuto.

"I would be hunting for this brat's ass with Itachi right about now," grinned Kisame.

"And you and I wouldn't have gotten the chance to know each other better when I was locked up in that Akatsuki prison. The extraction procedure would have commenced immediately when they brought me in." finished Naruto who gave his foxy grin.

"All thanks to that backstabbing kunoichi." Muttered Asami. She gave a quick kiss on Naruto's lips. "I guess she definitely did the world a favour."

Baki gave a hard loud cough to bring back all four's attention.

"She's definitely Orochimaru in disguise. I bet the Leaf-nins don't even know if he's still alive or not. Don't even know why he's disguising himself as a Grass-nin, he already did that once in the Chuunin exam." Explained Naruto as he regained his composure.

"That, Naruto, is what we call a snake in the grass." Joked Kisame. "I don't even know why Raiha even accepted him into the Akatsuki in the first place."

Asami, Kisame, and Naruto looked one another as though each of them knew what the other was thinking. Kabuto still hadn't reach that level understanding even after being with them for a year and a half.

"So who gets to kill the Snake bastard?" asked Kisame as he looked at Samehada, and imagined it scrapping Orochimaru's skin off with it.

"He's mine." Announced Naruto, "Between the three of us, Kyuubi and I can give him the most painful death no human can ever imagine. I want to watch him pale when he watches every single Jutsu he can think of gets countered and defeated."

"He's really stupid to think that we can't get over those seals and traps he placed on the scrolls he left behind in Otogakure (Hidden Sound Village)," chuckled Asami as she looked at Kabuto.

"I sure won't forget that sick paled face of his when he found out three missing-nins raising hell in his base. He quickly ran away when he saw Kisame, in a screen, began shredding his guards with Samehada. He didn't even care about his scrolls." Stated Kabuto.

Kabuto pushed his glasses with his two fingers and continued, "The scrolls that enlist every Kinjutsu he ever made, his techniques, all the seals invented, and even snake summoning contract."

"His lost, our gain," replied Naruto, "Though I have to say his fanatic over the immortality thing rendered most of the scrolls obtained useless. Knowing what Jutsus he has, that was useful."

"So you got a counter for every move, even that necromancy Jutsu?" asked Asami.

"Just wait and see," smiled Naruto. As he stood up, he asked, "Where are they holding the last stage of the exam anyway?"

Kabuto searched the pockets in his vest and threw a folded paper at Naruto. Naruto unfolded the paper and simply said, "Perfect."

"I guess this meeting is finished then. We will continue again tonight. Briefing and stuff."

Said Naruto as he wore his Oni red mask, strapped the cloak, and head for the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Baki out of curiosity. He stood up from his chair and approached Naruto, "Gaara and the rest are going to arrive only this evening."

"I'm going out. I need to confirm some things and begin preparations for tomorrow." Answered Naruto as he pulled the brown oak door open. He looked at Kisame and Kabuto, "You might want to get some sleep. It's going to be a long night when we're having the meeting with Gaara and the others. I'll even be explaining everything on the procedures for the scum's death. I'll think of something, but know this. We get to make right in front of all those Leaf, Waterfall, and Grass shinobis and still get away with it."

All of them can't to see what's in store for tomorrow and how Naruto's crazy was going to work. He always did come up with the craziest plans, and they would always walk away free with all the satisfaction from the excitement and thrill of fighting.

Asami had heard all of Naruto's crazy fights back when he was in Konoha. She would sit down and listen to Naruto's stories from outside his cell, back when he was locked up all alone in the Akatsuki prison. In her opinion, the plans got even crazier after her father Raetsu, Itachi, Kisame, and Kyuubi and taught Naruto in preparation for fighting against the rest of the Akatsuki.

Naruto laughed when he saw Kisame's drowsy face. He said, "You could use he sleep."

"Ha ha, very funny." replied Kisame in sarcasm, "It's all your fault, you know."

Kisame with the heavy eye bags looked really funny with his shark gill markings under his eyes. He slowly slouched his away into his room whispering curses to himself.

"Is it wise to split up? Especially here in Konoha." Asked Kabuto in little concern.

"What's gonna happen? They're going to beat up this ANBU captain?" asked Naruto back at Kabuto. "They can dream about it. You know Konoha ANBU members and Jounins here better than I have."

Asami reached for her fox blue ANBU mask, "I'm going too, and there's nothing you can say or do anything about it."

"Fine," agreed Naruto, "But don't ask questions."

She nodded and both of them went out along with Baki. Baki went a separate way when they were going through the streets and said something about seeing how Shirou was doing in the training area.

Meanwhile……….

Tsunade had gathered several Jounins and Chuunins in a hall for a meeting, this included the whole Rookie Nine and even Gai's team. Most of the Rookie Nine and Gai's team were already Chuunins, though Neji and Shino were already Jounin from passing the previous Jounin exams. This was something Sasuke didn't like.

Several Special Jounins like Ebisu and Morino Ibiki were also present in the meeting. There were a dozen ANBU members present too. The assembly was going to start late thanks to a late shinobi, which surprisingly isn't Hatake Kakashi.

They all stood there including Tsunade whom was slowly getting pissed with each passing minute. Shizune was starting to get nervous after observing Tsunade, and slowly began squeezing Ton-Ton like a doll. The pig struggled wildly to the point where the face was turning blue. Shizune realized her mistake, quickly released Tsunade's prized pig and apologized.

"Okay, enough waiting. The meeting is going to start now!" announced Tsunade.

Just as the meeting started, a black figure crashed through the huge panel window surprising almost everyone in the vicinity. The figure rolled twice on the floor before it slowly stopped, and a human figure stood tall from it. Orochimaru's ex-student stood up happily, "So you're going to start the meeting without me huh?"

A sweat drop formed on everyone's head, including the ANBU guards and Sai.

"You're late," stated Tsunade as she massaged her temple in annoyance. This kunoichi was just as troublesome as Naruto. "By the way, you're going to be paying for that."

'Huh? Oh, sorry about that." Apologized Anko as she looked at the broken window. She cursed in her head. '_Damn, I always forget she's not like the old man. Sandaime (The Third) never charged me for breaking the windows in making a flashy entrance.' _

"I've called all you here because there are some things that I going to be talking about concerning the visitors we are having over the Jounin exam." Began Tsunade. Everyone remained silent as they paid attention.

"The daimyos (landlords) from all over the Fire, Grass, Waterfall, and the Wind Country are going to be watching the last stage of the exam. I going to ask all the Rookie Nine, Neji, Lee, and Ten-Ten to aid the ANBU guards in ensuring their safety. You won't have to worry Sasuke since you're participating n the exam. We'll need all the help we can't get." Continued Tsunade. She looked at the ANBU guards, "It's not that I don't trust the all of your capabilities, but I can feel something big is coming."

"Like when the Sound and Sand ambushed us?" suggested Sakura after she raised a hand.

"May be, but like wise, it is better to be prepared." Answered Tsunade as she looked her second apprentice.

"Like we'll be hearing anything from the Sound." Scoffed an ANBU guard wearing a raven mask. It seemed everyone there heard him as murmurs followed suit.

After finding a heavily, beaten up Uchiha Sasuke at the Konoha gates and later hearing his testimonials of Sound's destruction. Konoha send a group of ANBU to check on the so-called fallen Sound Country and the Hidden Village, with the help of Sasuke's informations and directions. Much to say, it was reduced to ashes when they had arrived.

Tsunade and the council wanted to know what had happened, for a Hidden Village to be decimated to such level with no one's notice. It was take a least an army to win over a whole Hidden Village, so they wondered if it was the neighboring countries around the Sound. The Sound Country was surrounded by three weak non-elemental country on the north, northeast and west side. Konoha was bordered at the southwest side, and they were sure no army had crossed their borders. Seawater occupied the southwest side of Sound Country, and the Wave Country archipelago wasn't too far away. The Hidden Cloud of Lightning Country was just next to the non-elemental country that occupied on the northwest side.

They came up with the theory that it was the Mist-nins or the Cloud-nins that attacked the Hidden Sound Country. They were wondering if this was just one of Orochimaru's plan of putting them off guard, and how did the Mist-nins or Cloud-nins knew the location of Hidden Sound. Tsunade and the rest of the shinobi of the village were greatly surprised when they further heard Sasuke's testimonials. There was never an army, merely three shinobis that infiltrated Sound.

Only three shinobis.

This was definitely unexpected, and Tsunade and those whom knew about Akatsuki like Kakashi, Asuma, Gai, and Kurenai were wondering if it was Akatsuki's doing. Kakashi already heard from Jiraiya that Orochimaru left because he was the weakest and didn't like the idea of being surrounded by them. He thought that the Akatsuki finally made a move when they found out Sasuke had joined Orochimaru. The Sharingan could be fatal in Orochimaru's hands, but to think why they finally made the move after a whole year and half had passed was a mystery. The Godaime (The Fifth), Tsunade, tried to contact Jiraiya but to no avail. She got even worried when there were no news of the perverted Sennin anywhere. She was at the point of sending several groups of ANBU team to search for them, when Jiraiya sent word through Gamakichi that everything was fine.

"Don't remind of that." Said Tsunade as she glared at the ANBU guard, "I don't want to think the idea of three shinobis wiping out a whole village at the moment."

Even everyone didn't like having reminded about how powerful the shinobis were. Sasuke even wondered if that merely a total power that he saw, or nothing more but a glimpse of it.

Shizune quickly approached Tsunade and whispered at Tsunade's ear. "You still haven't told them about the 'other' visitors."

"Oh, right." Said Tsunade as she once again looked at all of them. "It's about the Kazekage and the Sand-nins that are coming over to watch. Most of you already know the procedure, bit I'm just going to tell this to the newbies here."

She looked at the Rookie Nine and Gai's team. She had a serious look on her face.

"In no such circumstance are you to provoke, fight whatsoever with the Sand-nins. I will not tolerate such insubordination. If they were to provoke, harm, or jeopardize the safety of the Village and the people of Konoha, you may then act. However, if I do find out any of you caught breaking my direct order, you'd better start praying and wish you were dead from the torturing before facing me." Warned Tsunade as she cracked her fingers.

Everyone including Sai paled and sweat profusely like it was raining. They had seen what Sakura was capable of only by training under Tsunade for 3 whole years. Sai wondered where all trainings in 'Roots' about hiding human emotions had gone too.

"What if they are the ones who provoke us?" asked Kiba. Akamaru gave a loud bark.

"I'm sure the Kazekage has given the same warnings to the Sand-nins. Even they don't want to break the treaty." Answered Tsunade. "He had even sent a letter of assurance about the matter."

Ino and Sakura really thought that how pets shouldn't be allowed in at the moment.

Sai raised his hands to signal a coming question. Tsunade looked at him and nodded in permission to talk.

"About the Sand ANBU team," stated Sai with the usual (I really hate that guy) smile.

"What about them?" asked Tsunade as raised an eyebrow. She knew what his was going to ask, and it had pondered on everybody's mind since yesterday's events.

"It seems one of them carries along a huge sword as a weapon, much like the 7 swordsmen of the Mist." continued Sai. "Wouldn't it be possible if one of them is Hoshigaki Kisame, the S-Ranked wanted missing-nin?"

An ANBU captain whom had went on numerous missions in Wind Country and Water Country suddenly asked, "So want? There are a lot of shinobis all over the five major countries that use a variety of weapons. Some of the Sand-nins also wield large swords as while most Mist-nins just prefer using large weaponry such as huge metal gauntlets, scythes, scimitars, and such just for intimidation. Heck, you use a freaking paintbrush as a weapon."

"Thank you for the enlightenment," smiled Tsunade as she gave a look at the captain. "Though even if he was Hoshigaki Kisame, there's nothing we can do about it. The Sand has accepted him as a part of them. Harming him whatsoever directly breaches the treaty we have with the Sand. They are the only allies that we have, which actually had helped us in missions or aid us in our time of need. Unlike the Waterfall-nins, Grass-nins, and Rain-nins that have achieved peace treaty with us. Their contract treaties are merely written papers that could easily be broken."

"They seem to have stabilized over the two years since they attacked." Noted Asuma as he blew out some smoke. He took out another cigarette and lit up the new one. "Much faster than we did, considering though most of their forces compared to ours back then."

"Yet they seem to have slowly raised in terms of power and economy ever since Gaara became Kazekage." Added Kurenai who stood not too far away.

"YOSH! It's truly because of Gaara's burning flames of youth!" exclaimed Lee all of a sudden as he gave the all too familiar thumbs up pose. He gave a smile at Sakura that suddenly shined like he was in a toothpaste T.V commercial.

Sakura hid behind Sasuke and hold on to his shoulders, though he didn't seem to mind at all.

"Yes, Lee!" shouted Gai next. His face, glittering with stars of excitement. "Work hard! And you'll far greater than the Kazekage!"

"Is that true! Gai Sensei?" asked Lee as the glittering stars of excitement seemed to have jumped from Gai's eyes and spread all over Lee.

"Yes!" Gai. "I'll help you release the burning flames of Youth!"

"Gai Sensei!" shouted Lee out loud with tears flowing down his face.

"Lee!" shouted Gai just as loud. He made his way to Lee in slow motion. The typical Japanese red sun rose behind the imaginary endless field of flowers.

"Gai Sensei!"

"Lee!"

They made their way to each other. Everyone didn't know whether to be really embarrassed to be working in the same village with the two of them or just simply kill them. The ANBU guards were already going for their katanas when…

"WILL THE BOTH OF YOU STOP IT THIS INSTANT!" exclaimed Tsunade with a vein on her forehead. She gently tapped the floor, which shook the whole building.

Everything was back to normal except for the really embarrassed pair of green clothed skintight, teacher and student.

"It is quite strange for a whole Hidden Village to suddenly prosper under the guide of a young shinobi. He like the youngest shinobi to ever attain a Kage level." Speculated Kakashi.

"How about those mysterious ANBU guards that everyone's talking about. If Kisame is one of them, who do you guess would the rest of the group members be?" pondered Kurenai as she looked at Kakashi.

Sasuke already began brainstorming the possibilities that the leader that emitted the freakish killing intent could be his brother. He couldn't risk running after him at the moment, there were people around him. Kakashi already knew what Sasuke was thinking.

"Stop thinking about it, Sasuke. You don't want to go through of all that, ever again." Whispered Kakashi just enough for Sakura and Sasuke to hear them.

Sasuke shook his head violently, trying to throw off all days of gruesome counsellings and rehabilitation.. But he still insisted in at least meeting with the leader of the group leader.

"Look, the fact still doesn't change. The Sand has accepted them in, we can't do anything about it. But if they do try anything that will jeopardize the safety of Konoha and the great shinobis that live here. Together we will stand, fight, and beat them!' assured Tsunade.

All of them nodded in agreement.

On the training area of Team 7……

Naruto walked cautiously in the forests that was Konoha. He was puzzled that there weren't many shinobis around. He'd only passed two ANBU leafs without detection.

He thought in his head, '_they must be having a meeting or something. Either they're too busy, the security here really sucks, or I'm just to good for these suckers.'_

Naruto and Asami walked out from the forest into an open clearing, a wide space of grass and crystal clear water flowing in a river nearby. Naruto looked at the river for a moment and remembered how he fell inside thanks the Thousand Years of Pain. A few feet away, he recognized the three wooden poles that still stood ever since Jiraiya's years of training as a Genin. But he didn't come al the way here for that, he looked around and finally found it.

It was the memorial stone.

The piece of stone that could be used as a sundial. It had list all the names of the Leaf-nins that had sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. That was what Naruto had come looking for.

Of course, Asami didn't even know why they were here or why he was looking for that stone monument. Naruto had kept silent ever since they parted ways with Baki. She still remembered Naruto's word.

"_Fine, but don't ask questions." Stated Naruto._

He approached the memorial stone and traced his index fingers on the list of names, looking for one in particular. He stopped when he found it.

Sandaime (The Third), Sarutobi. Beloved protector, friend, and grandfather.

"Hey there, Oji-san(old man). It's been a long time, huh." Stated Naruto as he gazed at the name. Asami merely stood there quietly, finally taking full understanding. She remembered the very few people Naruto had talked about . The very few he still held precious to his heart even after joining the Sand.

He continued, "I bet you'd be really pissed right about now. Though I don't know if you're be pissed at them or at me. Whatever it is, I don't care. I never regret leaving this village and joining the Sand. I guess what you would say back then is that there's always a reason for everything that happens. And I have all reason for leaving. Some dream of being Hokage…. The greatest Hokage that ever lived…"

Asami slowly moved closer towards Naruto.

He sighed, "I guess sometimes dreams are just dreams. Isn't that right, Oji-san? You'll be happy to know that I've finally a young extraordinary kunoichi that I will forever love and spend the rest of my life with. She's really beautiful, isn't she? She's strong too, throws a really hard punch for a girl."

Asami didn't know why she was blushing: The fact that Naruto was praising her to a memorial stone like it was alive. She guessed it was one of the few ways Naruto would show respect to the dead. She could sense the sorrow and sadness in his face.

"I don't care if you're saying that I'm killing that son of a bitch, out of revenge. He was just evil even from the start, you know that, and always will be. Yet your kind heart thought that you could change that. Look what he did. HE KILLED YOU! He took away your life! Took you away from Konohamaru! Took you away from the village that you cared so much! Took you away from me! The first one to realize and acknowledge me for who I am, not because of what's inside me….It was never you're time, Oji-san. Never…you could have watched little Konohamaru grow up. After all the things that blasted snake did. He brainwashed and even forced all those people into joining his pathetic village, sacrificed and played with those people's lives like he owned them. He deserves every single thing that's coming for him tomorrow. He made you use that Forbidden Sealing Technique. Your soul can't even rest in peace, trapped forever in the belly of the Death God. I'll show him…I'll show him a fate far worse that being sealed forever inside the belly of the Death God."

Asami slowly reached Naruto from behind and hugged him around the neck. Naruto was already panting from releasing all the anger. He eased himself when he was Asami's arms.

"You can just cry you know. I didn't care what you, Kisame, and Itachi would think of seeing me crying when Otou-san (father) died." Comforted Asami as she hold on to him tighter.

Streams of tears trailed down the whiskers marked cheeks, under all that creepy blood red Oni mask. All the pain he had kept even when he resisted crying on Sandaime's funeral was finally released. He was finally going to get rid of the very last one tomorrow when he would be facing Orochimaru. After a few minutes, Naruto finally settled down.

"I bet Otou-san would have enjoyed meeting him, he must have been a really great man" said Asami.

"He was," added Naruto. He chuckled a little on thought, "He really was. A great, funny, perverted old man."

Naruto slowly backed away and moved on. Asami followed suit.

"Can I finally ask questions?" asked Asami.

"You already are," said Naruto. He stopped a few feet away, "Care to join me in another meeting?"

"With who?" asked Asami happily looked at her lover who was finally back to his usual self.

"Guess." Answered Naruto as he made a few complex seals and finally ended with one that didn't symbolize any of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac.

Asami laughed a little when a vortex opened in mid air like zip had been opened right there. A gust of wind blew as they entered the vortex and it closed up right after the moment Asami's cloak wisped into the vortex.

Several leaves fell off from a nearby tree where Naruto was twice hanged from during his bell test. As all leaves fell, three of them were carried by the wind and slowly fell right near the memorial stone.


	5. Foes, foxes, and fallings

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.

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--Begin Flashback--

Kisame slowly walked down the uneven cave floors as he held a burning torch. He could already sense that someone or two were already at the prison chamber, he could hear the usual curses. He detected the light coming torches on the chamber walls, with the trickling of calcium carbonated water trailing down the stalactites. He sighed, "Why do I have to be the one that always do these things? It's always, Kisame do that, Kisame do this, Kisame don't do that, or Kisame don't do this. It's never Deidara who gets to do these things."

_Out of the nine of them, Deidara was definitely by far the weakest. Of course, he was also by far stronger than Orochimaru could ever be. A range attacker with all the explosives he'll ever need, that would last his a lifetime. Akatsuki members tend to get closer with one another, usually the ones they are partnered with. Sasori and Deidara was an example. Though in Kisame's opinion, they've been relatively doing fine after being put up with the seal maniac, Takasugi Sakai. Sakai was usually paired with Raetsu, but somehow those two just couldn't really tolerate each other anymore. The recent events were starting to confuse Kisame._

"_Oi Sakai! Time's up! Raiha said that's enough for today. We don't want the Kyuubi vessel to simply just die from your crazy seal experiments," shouted Kisame as he entered the room._

"_Crazy?" repeated Sakai in a dangerously angry manner, "See if you can open this seal if you think it's easy." _

"_What's so hard about this one? With all the seals that I've seen you do, what kind of seal can't you make?" asked Kisame, "You did create those seals for the Akatsuki entrance, I really wish I could open those trap seals. See how it feels to fight another great Hoshigaki Kisame for once."_

"_Those seals are still imperfect, and this is one seal definitely hard to crack." Replied Sakai. He was shorter than Kisame, wearing all usual Akatsuki crimson clouded, black cloth outfit. He had electric blue hair, that was tied together much like Nara Shikamaru or Umino Iruka. His eyes were strange. His iris that was supposed to black, but it was white. The white parts of his eyes were black. It weren't because of family trait or special bloodline Doujutsu, Sakai said because he greatly messed up with one of seals back when he was in the Hidden Rain._

"_I give one last try for today." Said Sakai. "Hei Sasori, again."_

_The Sand Puppet creator moved his fingers playfully as a pair of puppets in black shredded shrouds moved into already opened prison doors. Stalactites and Stalagmites joined together forming prison bars with intricate seals carved all over them. Uzumaki Naruto was lying down on the cold cave floor, disheveled and panting heavily with the Shikifuujin seal on his stomach flashing red like mad. His wrists and feet were shackled, with several more intricate seals etched on them. The puppets moved in and dragged him out with no effort of retaliation whatsoever._

_Sakai made a long list of seals with his hands, and finally gathered chakra at his fingertips. He thrust the burning fingertips onto Naruto's stomach, and all three Akatsuki members watched as the Kyuubi vessel shouted in pain. He twitched violently in the puppets' arms as the two seals reacted against each other. Suddenly red chakra burst out from his body, and then Uzumaki Naruto began to change. His sky blue iris changed blood, crimson red. The pupils retracted into slits, his whisker marks thicken in length and width, and claws and fangs elongated from the usual canines and nails. _

_The puppets' arms cracked as they continued holding the boy in place. Sasori quickly summoned more puppets, Sakai began making more seals, and Kisame quickly pulled out Samehada. It was like a routine: More of Sasori's puppets would try to restrain Naruto, Kisame's Samehada would suck the Kyuubi's chakra as much as possible to weaken him. And Sakai would perform the counter seal on the seal he had used earlier to cancel each other out. The boy once again lay limp in the puppets' hands, and he was carried into his cell once again._

"_Tough luck, Sakai." chuckled Kisame, "Better luck tomorrow then."_

"_Aaaargh! Curses!" bellowed Sakai. _

_Sakai was really frustrated. All the seals he had done so far couldn't even lay an effect on one of the Elephant Seals. And there were actually two of them, which totally make them even more difficult to weaken by. He definitely didn't like whoever this Hokage Yondaime was. After hearing from Itachi about how young he was when he died performing the seals, Sakai was really starting to hate him more. He was already 43 years old, armed with over a hundred seals in learning and his very own creations. Yet, he couldn't even weaken these containment seals at all._

_Sakai looked into the prison bars and said, "At this rate, I might have use all the weakening seals that I know by next month." _

"_And you get to a lot spend time with the brat, I'm so jealous." This time Kisame laughed at his own sarcastic remark._

"_I've had enough, let's go Sasori." Ordered Sakai as he made his way to the chamber's exit. _

_Sasori didn't talk much but merely said, "Fine, but let me at least have a look on my broken puppets."_

_He picked up the puppets that had their arms cracked, and unsummoned them. He hunched way as followed Sakai later. That meant Kisame was left all alone with the Fourth's legacy in the dimly lighted room. Sakai and Sasori had taken their own torches, leaving only Kisame's. He crouched down with a torch in one hand; Samehada was already strapped once again on Kisame's back. Naruto had crawled away to the corner of the cell, with his body and head rested on the prison walls. The long dirty tethered yellow hair obscured his eyes from Kisame's view._

"_Not so tough are you know, brat?" asked Kisame, "Too bad fate had chosen you as Kyuubi's vessel."_

Naruto gulped, but he slowly moved his head. He surprised Kisame by giving a smile. Naruto spoke in a very groggy voice, "**Shut up, insolent fool. You really think you're all that. Do you, pathetic vermin?"**

Kisame's eyes widened, he slowly backed away. The voice alone was already making him uneasy, and watching the eerie foxy grin through the rocky bars wasn't helping. It still had the pair of elongated canine teeth, but not really long like when Naruto transformed. Kisame watched the seal on the stomach give a final glow, before it disappeared, and Naruto's canines changed back to normal.

Naruto gave a weak chuckle, "Scared you back then, eh fish face?"

Kisame was somehow angry but scared at the same time. He left the Jinchuuriki all alone in the dark. He was going to have a word or two to Sakai about what just happened. He was moving fast, he couldn't risk wasting time with the nine tailed fox demon breaking lose anytime soon. He didn't even notice a beam of light. Just as he passed through a corner, he accidentally bumped into Raetsu. He saw someone passed him at the same moment.

"You might want slow down Kisame," advised Raetsu, "You won't like it when you accidentally trip and sprain something. We're in a cave you know."

"Yeah, yeah." Mumbled Kisame. He dusted himself and gave a look on the shorter figure that stood right in front of him. A middle aged man with messy red hair, purple eyes, also dressed in the usual Akatsuki cloak held a torch light in his left hand. Kisame looked at it as if it was a two-headed puppy.

"Where did you get that?" asked Kisame. Totally forgetting his worries altogether.

"Just bought it in a town while returning from the latest mission. Asami said the bright fire from the torches was starting to bother her eyesight. She said she didn't want to wear glasses or something." Answered Raetsu.

"_You've got extras?" asked Kisame as he looked at his burning torch and imagined himself wearing glasses._

"_Get one yourself. These things don't cost much. But all the batteries this baby needs are really bothersome. The fact we always use these every time we're here." Answered Raetsu with a smirk, "I even Asami buy using her own money."_

"_You're really a scrooge, you know that?" asked Kisame, "I've never met a shinobi who's stingier than you."_

"_Judging from the place you came from, I'd say you just visited the prison chambers," commented Raetsu._

_All the troubles from the encounter with the Konoha brat suddenly sprang back to his mind. He looked nervous and scared all over again, something that Raetsu doesn't usually get to see. _

"_You've seen Sakai? This is urgent!" pranced Kisame._

"_Why?" asked Raetsu curiously, "You look like you just saw a demon or something."_

"_Well I did! Well, talked to it actually. Kyuubi was actually talking through the brat's mouth. Then he had this really creepy grin before the seal disappeared. Then he began chuckling and said how scared I was." Answered Kisame._

_Raetsu had a curious look but quickly threw it off. _

"_I'm sure it's just some side effects from Sakai's seals. We, on the other hand, have some more serious things to talk about." Stated Raetsu with a serious face. _

"_Oh? About what?" asked Kisame._

"_Not here," stated Raetsu simply, "Just follow me."_

_Kisame complied as he followed Raetsu, but he was curious with where Asami was. She was always by Raetsu's side he saw him outside the cave . He suddenly had a look of realization and asked Raetsu while following._

"_Let me guess, Asami went to see the Kyuubi brat?"_

'_Shut up," simply answered Raetsu. His face expression didn't seem to like upon the idea of Asami's actions. But his daughters constant meetings the Jinchuuriki might prove to be useful._

_They entered into another chamber, though Kisame could already sense someone standing there. He knew whom it was when the figure spoke,_

"_This better good Raetsu. You already made me wait here for half an hour."_

_Uchiha Itachi had his right hand resting on the openings of his Akatsuki cloak. He didn't look pleased, though it was barely noticeable from his usual straight up face. He already knew Raetsu wasn't alone, and came to a conclusion it was Kisame by his height and out linings of a hilt protruding from the back._

_Raetsu turned off his flashlight, looked around as though there were anyone was hiding. He turned to the two._

"_Kisame, You smell any chakra around?" suddenly asked Raetsu._

"_Nope," stated Kisame as he took several sniffs in the air. He was getting confused at Raetsu's odd behavior. _

_Raetsu directed a question towards Itachi, "No cloaking Genjutsu whatsoever?" _

_Itachi activated his third leveled Sharingan and gave a full 360 degrees sweep. He just said a simple "No." _

"_What's this about, Raetsu?" asked Kisame, "You're acting all secretive for all of a sudden." _

"_Just to be cautious. Don't want that sneaky Zetsu eaves dropping on our conversation." Answered Raetsu. He said, "We have a problem."_

"_About what? The Kyuubi brat?" asked Kisame. The idea came right at the wanted Mist missing-nin's mind._

"_No, it's about Raiha." Corrected Raetsu._

_--End Flash Back—_

Kisame woke up from his sleep and looked around his room. His Samehada rested on the wall right next to his bed. His ANBU vest hung from a wooden chair, while his shuriken holster was on the table beside it. Kisame never really needed a kunai for the rest of his life ever since he got Samehada in Kirigakure (Hidden Mist). The room was really dark since he closed the blinds. Naruto had already placed some seals on the windows so that nobody could spy on them. Even the soundproof seal worked like a charm. He didn't know what time it was and glanced at the digital clock.

It was 5:45 p.m.

He groggily woke up from his bed and went off to the toilet to get a shower. He took a towel from a closet, and pulled out a scroll from a particular pocket in his Jounin vest. When the scroll opened, he gave a slight jab on a specific Kanji seal. It gave a poof of smoke and a toiletry bag with the logo that somehow looked like a Game Shark appeared before him. He picked it up and threw the scroll on the bed.

He saw Kabuto sitting on the couch, watching the television. Kabuto seemed to be watching some movie about some huge snake summoning gone loose and wreaking havoc in a shinobi village.

"He must be one stupid shinobi to not notice that snake creeping behind him." Stated Kisame as he stood there and watched.

"Alas, that wouldn't make the story interesting then." Replied Kabuto.

"Whatever," muttered Kisame, "Did those two come back to whatever it was they went?"

"Nah, I think Naruto and Asami would be coming in with Kazekage-sama and the others. It would seem strange to see the Kazekage enter Konoha without his elite guards waiting for him at the Konoha gates." Answered Kabuto as he watched the snake began swallowing a Rain-nin.

"Isn't it already strange that the Kazekage's elite guards had come here earlier, prior to his arrival. Instead of being by his side?" argued Kisame.

"True," answered Kabuto, "But we don't really care, do we?"

"Nope, we don't give a damn." Added Kisame as he continued on his way to the toilet.

Meanwhile….

Naruto and Asami were tree hopping their way through a huge, dense jungle. Everything was slightly bigger than the all usual forests and jungles in Fire Country. It was like everything grew so big enough that it would match up the ones that grew in the Forest of Death. The tree trunks and branches were relatively wide enough for a group of people to stand together, much less have a decent brawl on it.

"You'd think after all those times visiting them, you could at least open up a portal much closer to their den." Commented Asami.

"That would take the fun out," replied Naruto as he watched something climb into a hole in a tree trunk.

"We're going to see Gaara and the rest arrive at the Konoha gates, right?" asked Asami.

Naruto gave a nod, "Yeah, of course. Can't wait to see him wearing that Kazekage robes. It kind a makes him look girlish and stuff. I never dreamt about wearing those horrible clothes. Back when I wanted to be a Hokage, I always imagined myself wearing only that hat."

"I guess you really did have sense of fashion back then, even when you only wore those horrible orange jumpsuit." Teased Asami as she landed on a branch and gave another boost to propel her to next one.

"It wasn't really that bad was it?" asked Naruto in opinion. "It sure was comfy, heck I didn't need to wear anything extra when I was in Snow Country except a pair of gloves, boots, and cloak. The others had to get a set of sweaters, scarves, and stuff."

"You've got to be kidding. Itachi totally burned your jacket when you were going to meet Sakai for the first time. Sakai did said the jacket was an eye sore, and he asked Itachi to burn it off the moment he saw them." Explained Asami as she recalled back some of her memories in Akatsuki.

"Yeah, but I really was satisfied when I killed him in the end," said Naruto. He could hear sheer laughter in his head as he jumped. Kyuubi really did enjoy those moments on watching his memories like a television as a form of entertainment.

"We better hurry it up if we're going to meet them, and then meet up with Gaara later on." Pointed out Asami as she worried about the time. They did go out in the morning and went to the memorial stone. She was just thinking how they would lose the track of time meeting them, and coming back just for Gaara's arrival.

"Right," Naruto kept looking forward and said, "Less talking, more hopping."

After ten minutes of rather bothersome tree hopping, the two Sand-nins finally landed themselves in front of a huge den. Both of them stopped as they stood near the entrance, and Naruto took in a deep breath.

"Oooi! Anybody home!" shouted Naruto as loud as his voice box could.

The earth trembled a little, anything could hear the sound of rumbles coming from inside the cave like nest.

"Hey! Would you come on out already!" Naruto continued shouting.

"I think they heard you the first time, Naruto." Advised Asami as the ground beneath them shook every now and then as a rhythm of huge footsteps could be heard.

It was an odd one, there were two sets of legs making their way. More like paws as the legs could be seen as they stepped into the light. A huge tangerine, orange fox came out with golden yellow eyes with its own foxy grin. It definitely towered above them, though it wasn't really as big as Gamabunta or any of the boss summonings. It looked down at Naruto and Asami and gave a real foxy grin. Naruto returned with his own as he took off his mask.

(Okay people, things are going to be a little weird for some time. But all will be explained in due time. Kind of makes me feel like a bad writer doing this.)

"**It's been a while. Naruto, Asami." **Smiled the fox in a feral animalistic voice. Anyone could easily make it out as a female's voice.

"Oh come on, Okaa-san (mother)," replied Naruto, "It's only been like what? Two weeks since I last came to visit?"

"**Half a moon cycle, yes I remember. But you know your father and I only get to see here when you visit. You're the one that always meet up with Ryochi and the twins." **Confirmed Naruto's so called mother.

"Speaking of which, where is Otou-san and the twins?" asked Naruto who now sat comfortably on the ground.

"**The usual council meeting. The twins told me that they going out to search for food and so called 'fun' in the snake's territory. Though I doubt they would find any snakes there with their usual rambunctious attitude and all." **Answered the huge vixen as she too sat on the ground on all four.

Asami slowly approached the large vixen as she took off her own fox blue mask. She looked at the large den, and it was still quiet. She looked up at the monstrous vixen, and cheerfully asked, "Hey, it is Shiro around?"

"**Shiro? I'm sorry Asami; you just missed him a while ago. She said she was going to catch up with the twins."** Answered the vixen.

Suddenly there was a huge blur that sprinted out from the darkness of the den, and tackled Asami and Naruto altogether. It was the size of Akamaru that grew after two and a half years after Naruto and Sasuke left. It was another female fox, but it began licking both of their faces repeatedly like an over excited dog.

"Hey, Rena. Stop it! It tickles," giggled Naruto.

"Well look who decided to join in," said Asami who crawled away from under the new arrival.

"So how's my little sister doing?" asked Naruto as he disengaged from the deep red, young fox. "Can you speak human already?"

The excited fox gave a loud squeaky bark. Much like new born puppies."

'**Now. Now. Naruto, you know she's just starting to speak. She can barely speak fox, what makes you think she can speak human?"** retorted the large vixen.

Naruto gave his sibling a pat on the head.

Later on, Naruto sat in front of his 'mother' in a cross-legged position. The fox cub rested her head on Naruto's legs, as he absently scratched her head and behind the ears. Asami sat in a perfectly feminine manner beside Naruto as she stroked the fur on Rena's body and tail.

The huge canopy of leaves from the tower-like trees gave absolute shade. Little streams of sunlight made their way through the holes, giving a dazzling effect on the forest floor below. The four of them just sat there relaxed, not caring for the world for a while.

"How long has been since Otou-san (father) left for the meeting?" asked Naruto as he tried to start up a conversation.

"**Since morning**," answered Naruto's mother, "**The twins left a later on, said they were still hungry even after going out around at night time."**

"So how's Shiro doing? I take it she's still adjusting the place and food?" asked Asami.

The answer never came as the sound of rustling through the bushes and leaves on the forest floor began to get louder and louder. The four of them didn't seem to care at all at the disturbance. They could hear several birds squawking and chirping as they fly away while monkeys chatter form branch to branch. A bigger crimson red fox finally walked out from the trees, and came into the clearing of the den. It had a long goatee under the chin of its muzzle. A few feet long of whiskers trailed showing great age, with its had brown eyes, and a few long fur growing at the back, joints, and tail.

"**Coming home from a meeting, and what do I find? A family gathering." **Stated the fox with a hint of laughter for himself.

"One that isn't held too far away from your own home," commented Asami as all four of them watched the great fox moved on. Naruto's 'father' licked the vixen and Rena, but Naruto and Asami quickly declined the sign of affection. They said that it would too conspicuous for two shinobis walking around with fox scent all over them.

"**Excuses." **Said the father fox, "**Rena's already covering you with her own fox scents."**

"Well it's easier to get rid the smell of fur from the scent of saliva on us. Besides, there's this clan that utilizes dogs to a point that their senses are almost as acute as their own dogs." Explained Asami happily. This time, they had a reason not to be licked unlike the previous ones.

"**So tell me, how is the soul of my grandfather's brother doing?" **asked the male fox curiously as he eyed Naruto's stomach.

As soon as he finished asking, blood red chakra began leaking through the containment seal. However Naruto didn't seem to have any changes as it began swirling in the air on top of him. No fangs and claws, no red demon eyes, deep thicken whisker marks whatsoever. It was as if chakra was being released by itself through his body like he was training chakra control. It formed into a fox head the same size as the other gigantic fox counterparts. Kyuubi was definitely different in comparison even as a fox. Black markings around the eyes and ears, the demonic eyes, and he had more sharp canines than any of the two.

"**It's been fun. Like always, couldn't have been sealed into any other interesting humans around."** Answered Kyuubi as he looked in between Naruto and the fox in front of him.

The old fox gave a laugh in response; he slowly tried to calm down from such humor.

"**Anything slightly more interesting that's going to happen?"** asked the fox.

Kyuubi looked down on the only humans that were there, and gave his version of the creepiest foxy grin alive. **"I'm going to have some fun helping the brat kill some pitiful weak human tomorrow in front a crowd of weaker humans ."**

Naruto didn't seem to mind being called 'brat' by Kyuubi anymore. It was more of like telling the truth in calling someone for who they are. Sandaime (The Third) was really an old man, no argument about that. Tsunade was also a very old woman, fit to be a grandmother if she had married at a young age. Jiraiya was just a perverted Sennin, simple as that. In a way, Naruto accepted that he really was and will always be a brat for the rest of his life. He had respected the older people he knew that really deserved them, yet he still called them for what they are. They few who he still hold precious to his heart: Iruka-sensei, Tsunade-obachan and Erro Sennin.

All six of them idly chat or simply sat there quietly, enjoying the presence of others around them. Rena, the fox kittling did most of the sitting and keeping quiet. Asami and Naruto noticed that the sun was setting.

"I guess we'll be leaving then. It's getting late." Stated Asami.

Kyuubi didn't look pleased but had a face of understanding. The other large grown foxes nodded in agreement while the red swirling chakra head quickly retreated back into it vessel. As both Sand-nins prepared to go off, Rena made her usual antics. The female kittling made a pout. Naruto bowed a little and ruffled the fur of Rena's head.

"Don't you make that sad face, Rena." Smiled Naruto as he looked eye to eye with the baby fox. "We already talked about this. It doesn't suit you one bit."

Rena licked Naruto's whiskers marks, and Naruto stood up straight. This time, Asami walked near and forbade farewell to Rena.

"**You don't seem to mind Rena licking your face." **said Naruto's 'father.

"Well her tongue isn't so big that it can even let me roll around on it." replied Naruto.

Asami scratched the neck of Rena one last time and said, "Tell you what. I'll bring you something special the next we come and visit. Now you be a good vixen and grow up to be a strong vixen just like your mother. Heck may be stronger."

Rena gave a yip, while her parents chuckled in amusement. Judging by that determined and happy face of his, the male fox knew he had something to say before he left.

Naruto amused, "May be you'll be having snakes for tomorrow. Rena-chan, Otou-san, Okaa-san."

The both of them wore their masks, and moved a couple of feet away. Under the mask, Naruto had a look of concentration; he was thinking the ideal place in Konoha to set up the opposite end of the portal. He didn't want to make one that was right in the room they were staying. Making plenty amount of time to Konoha's gate for Gaara's arrival, getting rid of the fox smell they had all over them, and not attracting attention to themselves. His mind finally clicked an idea as he began making a different chain of seals that also ended with a seal that wasn't in the Chinese animal zodiac. As another portal opened in the middle of the air, Naruto gave a farewell goodbye and pushed Asami quickly through the portal. The four of them could hear her scream, and finally Naruto jumped in. The three foxes sat there for a moment. The mother fox looked down and nudged Rena with her nose.

"**Come on, time to get inside. We'll see what that two brothers of yours will bring in for dinner."**

Rena ran off into the den, leaving the two adult foxes behind. The mother slowly followed suit, however the other one stayed behind. He chuckled, said one thing before he retreated back into the den.

"**You sure found yourself one interesting human indeed. Kyuubi-ojichan. Even his own mate…."**

Naruto watched as Asami plunged into a river with a huge splash. He fell in several seconds later, and quickly swam to the surface of the water. He looked around, and already saw Asami swimming to the edge of the river. By the time he got there, Asami grabbed a fist full of his cloak and pulled him to a stand.

"What the hell was that!" shouted Asami angrily. Her eyes were totally covered in a blazing fire.

"Uuuuummm…the fastest way to get rid of the fox smell?" answered Naruto hesitantly. When she was definitely the scariest kunoichi he ever met when angered.

Asami suddenly threw Naruto off to the ground a few feet away, but he landed quickly on his legs like a cat recovering from a fall. He did it; he had angered the daughter of one of the strongest Akatsuki member.

"Oh come on, this place is the only place I can think of that's really near to the Konoha gates. We're definitely clear from having anyone see two Sand ANBU shinobis jumping right out of thin air." Explained Naruto.

She moved in for the kill as she moved closer with every step. Naruto had to think fast, but he couldn't really think of any idea as he heard Kyuubi's roar of laughter in his head. He was sweating, under all of that wet ANBU uniform. He asked Kyuubi if the demon fox could sense anyone in the area. Kyuubi checked and told him there was not even a villager close. Asami picked up the pace as she moved in closer, Naruto could already sense the chilling air radiating off her.

'_Crap! Crap! Crap!' _repeated Naruto in his head.

"**Oh you you're gonna look like crap by the time she's done with you."** Commented Kyuubi with sheer glee in ever word. The fox demon thought that his vessel is going to need a lot of chakra to heal all the damages.

Only centimeters separating the two, Naruto finally thought of an idea. He quickly took of his mask with his right hand and Asami's mask with his left. He definitely paled when he was able to see the angry face that was Asami's. She didn't seem to care that her mask was taken off.

'_Here goes nothing!" _exclaimed Naruto in his head. Kyuubi was once again laughing, he absolutely couldn't have been sealed in any human more interesting than Naruto.

Naruto suddenly gave Asami a kiss. And it was no mere touch of lips to lips.

This definitely surprised her by a long shot, Naruto wasn't giving the usual lips to lips kiss anymore. His tongue moved in and played with hers. Naruto let go of the masks in his hands, moved them, and held onto her waist. Asami just had both of her palms and fingers on his chest. They stood there as Naruto got rid of every sense of fear as he watched Asami slowly began to lose her temper in a different kind of way. Asami finally let go when she ran out of air. Naruto was never the one to disengage from a kiss, and somehow it irritated Asami a little.

"You think you're really all that, huh?" joked Asami. With every ounce of anger and frustration forgotten.

"Yeah, I am." Answered Naruto confidently. He had his forehead rested on Asami's own forehead, Asami couldn't really do anything. He could smell her breath as she could smell his from such distance, and they both loved it.

"Come on, we've got to move on," advised Naruto as he gently let go.

"Do we have to?" asked Asami who was enjoying every second.

"Yeah, those Leaf-nins will be curious to why his elite guards aren't even there to welcome him." Explained Naruto.

Asami playfully asked, "Should we even care?"

"Nah, but 'Kazekage-sama' would." Said Naruto as he bowed down and retrieved the two masks. He handed Asami's as he fixed on his own Oni red mask onto his face. The both of them moved on as Naruto lead the way to the Konoha gates.

I'm definitely not good in writing the romantic parts. That I know. I guess I explained a few loopholes in what happened in the Naruto world, but also add more loopholes. I guess I'm trying to make things interesting while keeping you readers thirst and wonder more in the upcoming chapters. Please rate and review. Okay?


	6. Welcoming a Kazekage

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.**

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Naruto and Asami tree hopped through the Konoha trees as they made their way to the Konoha entrance gate. Their very own dripping wet uniforms slowly began to dry up as the wind blew against them. Jumping around at such speed with the air rushing against them, it was really helpful in wearing the ANBU masks. Naruto and Asami could already see the concrete walls that surrounded Konohagakure. Naruto gave a signal to Asami by holding out his index and middle finger. They jumped off into a road, and stood there as if waiting for someone to come.

Naruto could see Kabuto and Kisame walking slowly wearing their usual Sand ANBU uniform. Cloaked all over in sand brown and a hood over the head, and the two white bone masks decorated in swirls and waves. Kisame and Asami's were always blue; Kabuto had his cat mask in swirls and whiskers of red. While Naruto just wore his special prized possession.

"I didn't think you of all people would come," said Asami.

"We didn't want to, but Baki just kept pestering us about not drawing suspicions and showing respect over and over back in the inn." Replied Kabuto.

"Besides, I want to see those scared faces on the villagers and Leaf-nins again." Added Kisame. He took a deep breath through his mask, "I like it when there's a whole tension and uneasiness feeling in the air."

"Whatever," muttered Naruto as he could already see heads belonging to a group of people just over the horizon the path.

Asami, Kabuto, and Asami already expected the change in attitude.

Naruto and his teammates could see a lot of people already waiting for the Kazekage in the distance. Jounins and Chuunins standing in the midst of villagers, Tsunade and her assistant Shizune were waiting there too. Of course, the two of them were separated from the crowd. The Godaime (The Fifth) was really relieved when she was able to get away from the stacks of papers and come down to greet the Kazekage herself. She'd do almost anything to get out from marking all of those silly papers. Tsunade saw that some of the Konoha villagers looked troubled for all of a sudden.

There they were.

The Sand's ANBU elites were slowly approaching the gates, and they just kept walking towards the crowds of people without slowing down. The villagers, Gennins, Chuunins, and Jounins had their eyes on the both of them. It really was one freaky blood red demon mask; just like those who saw it on the first day pictured them. Naruto didn't pay attention to any of them. Asami knew the moment that Naruto would be near to the presence of even a single Leaf-nin, he would have a drastic change of personality.

Naruto would always change and show different personalities when he was around several types of people. He would be the ANBU captain of the elites trained in Sunagakure, when people he didn't know surrounded him. He would show his carefree, humorous, and happy personality only when he was around his family, friends, and the people he could really trust. He would only show his rare loving personality when he knew he was all alone with Asami. But of all changes, he was like a completely whole different being when he was in for a fight or a kill. Few had ever seen it and lived through it, and those who did were only: his teammates, Gaara, as well as very few ANBU forces that had tested, trained, and worked with him. None could ever explain the terror when you see the student of the greatest Tailed Beast and three Akatsuki members perform a kill.

Naruto, Kabuto, and Asami took a sneak peek out of the corner of their eyes through the mask holes, while Kisame was busy sniffing the different aromas in the air. He felt his Samehada vibrate under the cloak. Both him and his sword could pick up the scent of the different chakra coming off the Konoha ANBU guards hat were hiding in the trees and on the gate walls.

Specially trained nin-dogs such as Kakashi's own pack of dogs and those that belonged in the Inuzuka clan had the ability to smell concentrations of chakra. An example of such ability was back at the Chuunin exam, Akamaru smelled the demonic chakra of Shukaku with Gaara's very own. Even Kakashi's own dogs could smell chakra to an extent of capturing Momochi Zabuza, and trailing after Naruto's team in bringing back Sasuke. Chakra isn't like anything you could always see with your bare eyes. It is a form of energy. It has to be carefully manipulated and have its properties changed like when someone uses Raiken, Rasengan, or medical Jutsu. So detecting its smell was something to be praised about. Especially training types of animals to smell them.

No animal can match the ability to smell chakra when it comes to beating a shark's. Training them to smell chakra was impossible, but few members of the Hoshigaki clan were able to prove the idea wrong. A drop of blood in the seawater was relatively the same as an ANBU's abilities to suppress their chakra while hiding. Kisame's shark-like behavior, his trusted Samehada, and his rarely used shark summonings were the only things in the world that could smell faint traces of chakra. Demons didn't count; they were from a different world.

"14." Whispered all four of them together just enough for the group to hear. It was like another game, 'Where's the ANBU?'

Tsunade looked at them for the first time as they walked not too far away from her place. The four of them were approached Baki and his three Chuunin students: Takagi, Chiro, and Hirami. Naruto bowed down slightly towards Baki and the three in even respect and acknowledgment. as the other three followed suit. Baki bowed a little, but the three had bowed down all the way to the point each of their hands were touching their knees. Tsunade was definitely intrigued, usually ANBU members tend to be secretive. Their identities were kept a secret, they live a solitary life away from socializing with the community. ANBU members don't even usually stay in their own village for more than a week unless they are part of the village's security. Let alone, have the time to mingle with other shinobis and such.

Tsunade slowly walked towards the group of Sand-nins, surprising Shizune when she made the move.

"Tsunade-sama, where are you going?" asked Shizune out of concern.

"Strengthening our ties with the Sand," merely answered Tsunade. She approached the eight Sand-nins with Shizune following by her side. They already knew she was coming, dressed in the formal Hokage robes and red hat bearing the kanji 'Fire' on top.

Shizune looked at the places where the Leaf ANBU guards were hiding, and she moved on.

"This must be the ANBU elites you and Gaara talked about, aren't they?" asked Tsunade as she gave a good look at every single one of them.

"Yes, they are." Answered Baki in a smug on his face. He wasn't really of having her blowing their cover. She never met Kisame or Asami before, and there was no way she could pinpoint that the ANBU captain of the Sand was actually Uzumaki Naruto. Kabuto had told Baki that he had met Tsunade before, but with the Hidden Village of the Sound destroyed, possibilities were really low.

Naruto just stood there in silence, standing before the very few people he still hold precious to his heart, and not even knowing that he had joined the Sand. He just gave the same bow in respect, not even having the desire to talk at all. Even if she couldn't relate his voice to the shinobi she loved like he was her own brother.

"Not very talkative, are you?" asked Tsunade as she tried to look through the holes of the eyes and nostrils of the Oni mask.

Naruto just shook his head. He could already sense Kisame, Asami, and Kabuto trying their best to stifle their own laughter. The three won't stop bugging him about this for at least a week or so. Things are definitely not going to be pleasant once they all enter their rooms or return to Sunagakure.

"Just like most of the ANBU we have here," said Tsunade. Now she was looking intently on Kisame's hilt of Samehada, "I've heard a lot of things going around about that interesting, huge sword of yours."

Kisame fidgeted a little upon the comment and somehow started shivering. He was definitely trying his best from bursting. The rest of the Sand-nins could already picture Kisame's shark nose growing long, laugh out loud, and gloat out of pride of his sword. Pretty much like how it would usually happens every time he walked around Suna and hears people praising about his Samehada.

Naruto turned around to see Kisame, and that gave the signal for him not to utter a single word. Kisame didn't really like facing Naruto's wrath, let alone Asami's own. He just remained silent as ever, much to Tsunade's dismay.

"So everyone in his group doesn't really talk much," commented Tsunade as she gave a look each at Kabuto and Asami.

She was really getting more curious, about Morino Ibiki's comment yesterday. How these four were the pride of Wind Country, the greatest ever to be produced from Sunagakure's ANBU division. Morino Ibiki had reviewed their documents and papers. How it had the seal of Kazekage, and their status currently were in ANBU.

Just then, a Jounin guard that stood in a guard tower shouted to everyone below, "I see them! The caravan from the Sand!"

Anticipations and excitement now filled the air, completely replacing the slight tension that the four Sand-nin had caused earlier before. Kisame was a really disappointed shinobi under that entire mask, for the moment. The caravan lead by a pair of bulls pulling a well-decorated wooden cart came into view minutes later. Jounins and ANBU guards of the Sand were walking in front, along, and behind the caravan. That was when Tsunade noticed the difference between Sand's ANBU masks and those of Konoha.

The Sand-nins' masks had no distinguishable animal features whatsoever on their masks. It was simply white bone colored, with weird eyeholes consisting of repeated slits or lines. (It was like a full armored knight's helmet, the visor part it was.) It was either lined horizontally or vertically on the upper part of the mask. However, these four that stood a few feet next to her were wearing animal face like masks. Much like all the ANBU members of the Leaf.

Gaara was walking right out side the caravan he was supposed to sit in, but he never sat in there even once during the entire journey. The people looked in awe as the small caravan entered the city. Kankurou and Temari walked beside Gaara, as though they were his personal guards. Gaara was dressed in the Kazekage robes, while his two siblings wore the usual black shinobi uniform. Kankurou had Karasu strapped to his back, while Temari had her prized battle fan strapped at her back. The three of them slowly separated away from the caravan, and made their way to Tsunade.

"It's been a while, Kazekage-dono," greeted Tsunade as she held out a hand to shake.

"It has," replied Gaara as he gave a shake. Unknown to Tsunade, Naruto and the gang had to actually train their beloved Kazekage to get used to physical human contact.

It was damn strenuous work. As long as Gaara wasn't used to human contacts, the sand would block any form of attempts even shaking his hand. However this didn't work against Naruto, Shukaku wouldn't even dare touching Naruto ever since Gaara came to know of Kyuubi. The others didn't mind much, but Naruto insisted on letting him get use to such contacts.

The eight Sand-nins including Naruto gave a bow of respect at Gaara's presence. Of course the Shukaku vessel could sense the hesitancy of the bows coming from the four. He knew that Naruto, Kisame, Asami, and Kabuto would never really bow down in showing respect to him. The four of them didn't really like showing respect in such a way, because it just wasn't enough. They had their own way of showing their respects, and actually bowing to Gaara wasn't one of them. This time, Gaara could sense the wide foxy grin on Naruto's face under that Oni mask.

"I hope these four didn't cause any troubles while they were here?" asked Gaara as he took off his blue and white Kazekage hat.

"No, not all." Answered Tsunade.

"Really now?" asked Temari as she looked suspiciously at Naruto, Asami, Kabuto, and lastly Kisame.

Lady Chiyo and Old man Ebizou walked out from a caravan, and gave their own exchange of greetings with Tsunade, Shizune, and the rest of the Sand-nins.

Tsunade heard Asami's voice for the first time as she saw Asami bowing to the senior shinobis.

"Chiyo-ba-sama," muttered Asami softly as she bowed down in greetings and respect.

Just then, Naruto and the others could see Hatake Kakashi and his new band of Team 7 walking towards them. Naruto didn't see any of them in the crowd of people, and the other three didn't pinpoint their presence. All four of them must have arrived late like usual thanks to the tardiness of the Copy Kakashi. Naruto sensed that Sasuke was looking intently at him, while the other three talked to Tsunade and Shizune.

"Sorry to be late as usual, Hokage-sama." Apologized Kakashi as he scratched the back of his head. "Sai here needed to refill his ink bottles along the way."

"You better watch it, or I might come over to you're house. Then I'll burn down all those ridiculous collections of Icha Icha whatever you ever collected. Heck, I probably stop right at the source and convince Jiraiya to stop writing those pornography novels of his." Warned Tsunade.

Shizune and Sakura laughed a little. Even Asami and Naruto gave a little smirk under their ANBU masks after hearing such threat from the Godaime (The Fifth).

"Sometimes I wonder if he's too busy training Naruto, or just sit near some bath house while peeking like the pervert he is." Complained Tsunade as she rubbed her temple.

Naruto took note in his head, he corrected Tsunade's words in his mind. He thought,

'_It's super pervert, not just pervert. He admitted it himself when I tried to persuade him to train me in chakra water walking.'_

Asami, Kabuto, Kisame, and the other Sand-nins just remained quiet at the point where Tsunade said about Jiraiya peeking some bath house. He would probably be peeking in some public house bath at that very moment, ever since Naruto had joined the Sand,

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will explain everything. All is going to be explained as the story progresses. There will a chapter a two where I explain everything. It's just not the time yet. Kind of keeps you curious and want to keep reading more. I need reviews people!)

Moments after Lady Chiyo looked and recognized Kakashi presence, she suddenly sprang a kunai from her sleeve. Then out of nowhere there was a spike on killing intent in the air. Asami's eyes widened in realization when she saw Lady Chiyo looked at Kakashi. The old puppet master was about to use the kunai when Naruto and Asami stopped her kunai inches away from Kakashi's face. Asami held Lady Chiyo's wrist with her right hand, and held Chiyo's upper arm with her own left hand. Naruto was standing right in front of Kakashi, with his right hand stopping the kunai. Asami wasn't quick enough to react as the kunai was now lodged right through Naruto's palm.

Everything happened so quickly; even Tsunade, Gaara, and the stationed Konoha ANBU guards didn't have the time to react.

The only way the two could have reacted in time was they would have anticipated this to happen.

Several Leaf ANBU members leapt into the scene, surrounding Naruto, Asami, and Lady Chiyo. Tsunade however just ordered them to simply stand there at the moment, no engagement anyhow. Sai was giving a real smile as he stood happy watching how pathetic Leaf ANBU guards could be. The 'Roots' definitely would have done something. Sai looked at Naruto and had his face changed slightly, he had a doubt playing in his mind at the moment.

'Could the Roots even have sensed that and move that fast?'

Naruto used the same hand to pull away the kunai from Lady Chiyo's grip.

"Chiyo-ba-sama, he's not him." Voiced Asami through the fox ANBU mask. She had a voice of understanding as she tried to convince the old kunoichi before her.

"She's right, he's not the Konoha White Fang," assured Ebizou towards Lady Chiyo as he put his hand on her right shoulder.

Lady Chiyo came to realization as she heard those words, and saw Naruto shook his head. He still had the kunai lodged in his right hand, as if it was nothing. Lady Chiyo somehow looked older than usual as grim sadness and realization over took her. Still holding the grudge of the very person who killed her son and daughter-in-law, yet she knew the killer himself was long gone dead.

"I apologize, I don't know what came over me." Stated Lady Chiyo. "It was just a misunderstanding. Again I gravely apologize."

"Perhaps it is best if you and I head to the inn for a rest, it has been a long day." Suggested Ebizou as he guided Lady Chiyo back to the caravan.

Gaara nodded in agreement while Temari went to escort the both of them. The caravan had long since entered the Konoha gates, and very few people whom hadn't dispersed had watched everything play out. The Leaf ANBU guards slowly backed away when Tsunade gave the signal. They were a little bit disappointed for failing to react in such manner as to Naruto and Asami. However they took notice at their Hokage, Tsunade. She gave word to one of the Leaf ANBU, that was wearing a green dog mask to escort Temari, Lady Chiyo, and Ebizou to the inn. The villagers that were able to watch winced like they were in pain after seeing that attempt of attack. One of the ANBU Leaf-nins took notice, and looked at the still lodged kunai in Naruto's hand.

"Eeeeer…you might want to take that out," suggested the Leaf ANBU wearing a black decorated raven mask.

ANBU and Hunter-nins from all five elemental countries were trained to bear the pain, the best could simply neglect pain. But simply leaving it like that was something very few could do.

Naruto seemed to have forgotten about it, until the ANBU pointed out. He gave a look at it. Pain didn't really bother him much after what he had been through ever since he left Konohagakure. He had Sasuke ram a Chidori in one of his lungs, emotionally hurt by the betrayal of his precious people, survive crazy seal experiments performed by a lunatic Akatsuki member for a month, and let's not forget about being trained by a demon lord along with three Akatsuki members. The end of the sharp, cold metal kunai could have been seen at the back of his hand if it weren't for the metal plate on the back of his fingerless black gloves.

He pulled it out without even a slight wince, and watch as blood sprayed a little out from the wound. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura instantly remembered the day when Naruto vowed to never run away from an enemy. He had been slightly poisoned by the Demon brothers in escorting Tazuna to Wave country, and had to removed the poison by stabbing a kunai to the back of his hand. Tsunade on the other hand remembered the day when Naruto blocked Kabuto's kunai with his left hand and rammed his ever first Rasengan into Kabuto's chest.

Naruto looked at the bloody dripping hand and remembered other things. He never had to worry about healing cuts and wounds ever since Kyuubi and Naruto made 'that' pact. A freedom that Kyuubi wouldn't ever expect coming from his own 'prison'. When Raetsu finally proposed the idea of fighting the rest the Akatsuki, Naruto made the pact with the nine tailed fox demon. Naruto realized that Kyuubi could share his thoughts with him by channeling the red chakra into his mind. But the containment seal would only allow the red chakra to enter when Naruto summons it or when it was greatly forced through. But Sakai's experiment seals changed that.

He would allow Kyuubi free of his cage, and reside in the his body like being possessed . Of course Naruto remained in constant control, yet Kyuubi was now once again able to see, touch, hear, smell, taste, and best of all to fight again. The demon Lord was amused as it ransacked through the boy's memories, and sees what it was like to live through his vessel's point of view. To live the life from a human's point of view. Most of them just simply disappointed him on just how weak a human could be.

Naruto quickly told Kyuubi not to heal the injury as it would absolute raise suspicions especially when Tsunade and Kakashi were here. He guessed that Sasuke already knew about Kyuubi being sealed inside of him after being with Orochimaru. As four shinobis with the ability to heal the wound, two of them were currently remembering memories of the certain blonde. Tsunade and Sakura was still dazed at the moment, Kabuto didn't want to step forward to raise his own set of suspicions, thus leaving only Shizune.

"You could let me have a look at that. I'm a medic shinobi, Tsunade-sama's very own apprentice," suggested Shizune as she stepped forward.

Naruto could feel everyone around him was looking at him right after she finished. Even the ANBU Leaf-nins were looking at him. Gaara suddenly spoke, "Thank you very much for the offer, Shizune-san. I think he would greatly appreciate it."

Shizune came over from behind Tsunade towards Naruto; he didn't even move his hand. Shizune took off his fingerless gloves to get a proper look at it, and began holding out the wounded hand with her own hands. She gave her usual medical inspection, and noticed how his brown skin was perfectly tanned.

_'I guess it's one of the good things of living in a desert.' _thought Shizune.

Naruto could detect the slight feeling of jealousy coming from Asami, and looked at the Sand ANBU kunoichi. Their eyes met, and Asami just smiled happily under the mask from the brief look of understanding. Shizune's hands began to glow after being molding out green chakra. The wound slowly closed up as the skin and muscle cells began to regenerate and divide. After only several seconds, the wound was already closed and healed perfectly.

"There. Everything is as good as new." finished Asami as she put the bloody fingerless gloves into his now healed hand. "It will definitely leave a scar."

Naruto turned his hand around and gave a full inspection on it. Even Kabuto, Tsunade, and Sakura couldn't have done a better job after looking at his hand from a far. Naruto just flexed his all five fingers to let the blood run through out his hand. Kankurou gave a hard cough while Gaara gave him a stern look from under the Kazekage hat. Naruto put on his fingerless gloves, and gave a bow.

Naruto politely said, "Arigato Gozaimas. Shizune-san."

In Tsunade, Sakura, and Shizune's opinion, he definitely has one good voice. But even Baki's Chuunin student Hirami already knew he was taken. She giggled when she saw the three Leaf kunoichis just looked at him in awe. They definitely want to see the face that was hidden under that scary mask. But even the three medic-nins could sense that he was already taken with his looks that he gave a at his ANBU teammate kunoichi. It was what all women would call it a woman's intuition. Gaara and the other Sand-nins definitely didn't like this whole turn of events.

Kankurou gave another loud cough that snapped the three kunoichis once again. Sasuke and Sai were much too busy figuring how fast Naruto was in blocking Lady Chiyo's attack. Meanwhile Kakashi was busy giving an assessment on Gaara as he looked up and down at the Shukaku vessel. The young boy was definitely fit to be called a Kazekage of the Wind Country.

"I apologize on behalf on Lady Chiyo 's actions earlier." Stated Gaara.

"It's nothing really. Like she said, it was just a misunderstanding. You definitely made a perfect choice in choosing them as your personal guards." Replied Tsunade.

Sasuke was now more determined than ever to fight against the Sand ANBU captain without even realizing who he really was.

"I know her, I understand. The Konoha White Fang killed a lot of Sand-nins in his carrier. I guess he must have killed some relatives of her or something. Kakashi does look exactly like his father, doesn't he?" said Tsunade as she gave a look at the famous Copy Kakashi.

"I'll see you again tomorrow, Hokage-dono," stated Gaara as he bowed at walked towards the path that would eventually lead them to the village.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." smiled Tsunade as she shook Gaara's hand.

"Wait," said Sasuke.

The Sand-nins heard this, and turned around to face the Uchiha prodigy. They were curious as what he had to say. Even the Leaf-nins and Tsunade gave a look on confusion to what Sasuke was doing.

"Hey Gaara," called Sasuke with his usual cool smirk, "If it isn't any trouble, I want to have a spar with that ANBU captain of yours."

Gaara looked back at Sasuke, and back at Naruto. Kabuto already expected this coming from the Uchiha shinobi, he did spend one and a half year with Sasuke back in Orochimaru's fortress. He still had that little arrogance in him, not that any of the Sand-nins would really care. Kakashi, Sakura , and even Sai knew this bad habit that Sasuke tends to show every time he could pick a fight with some unknown shinobi. Sai had only been assigned to the team for six months, yet he tried to learn everything he can about his so called teammates. He definitely didn't like this so called Naruto character.

Sasuke never really had the habit of calling people with their formalities. Most people would already know this, while some would just learn to ignore later on. He doesn't even talk much for that matter. He didn't care calling Orochimaru just by his name, no sensei or master whatsoever.

Naruto looked at his ex-teammate, who was only fifteen years old at the moment. Naruto had aged himself ahead by three years. He would laugh at such the predicament, but didn't want to. Kyuubi was already doing that somewhere in his body. Yet he still wouldn't back away from fighting anyone who was stronger and older than him. Naruto didn't even care if Sasuke had even grown stronger since he returned Sasuke back to Konoha. Sasuke couldn't even match him after even using a second level curse seal, and Naruto didn't even need to think of tapping into Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto wondered if Sasuke had just forgotten that stupid revenge of his, and realize Itachi's true intentions.

Naruto gave a nod. Sasuke's smile widened, while Sakura grew worried. Again surprising the Sand-nins, they thought he would just simply walk away and ignore them much like how he usually does with strangers.

Gaara when straight to the point, "When?"

"I have a Jounin exam to pass tomorrow, let's make it now. But at Team 7's training area, I'll lead the way," answered Sasuke with a smug and confidence on his face.

Baki's Chuunin student, Takagi, who might b fighting Sasuke in the finals gave a remark towards him, "You must be dreaming if you think you could even lay a punch on him."

"Oh, I don't think I'll lay a punch on him. I'm going to beat him." Replied Sasuke with full confidence.

Kisame looked at Sasuke and remembered Naruto's words, he thought to himself. '_I guess you were right. He is kind of arrogant and just plain stupid.'_

Kankurou, Kabuto, Kisame, and Sai thought it was going to be boring coming for the reception of the Kazekage at the Konoha gates. They're definitely thrilled at least for now. Takagi saw this as opportunity to be able to see more of Sasuke's tricks and abilities he might face tomorrow on the Jounin exam. Chiro and Hirami was going to enjoy see the arrogant Uchiha Sasuke get his ass whooped. Oh how Sasuke was in for a surprise that awaits him at the Team 7 training grounds.

**Come on people! Read and review. PLEASE?**


	7. Memories and a showdown

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. Never did, never will.**

Sorry for the slow update. I had problems with my Internet line. Didn't really write anything much. Rate and review!

* * *

"How did the dead last become one of the strongest shinobis in the world?" was the question that ran through Naruto's mind at the moment. His body was actually jumping off tree branches following Sasuke as they moved on towards the Team 7 training grounds. The Sand-nins including Gaara were right behind him, while Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi, Sai, and Sakura were beside Sasuke. Tsunade knew the training grounds personally, since the three famous Sannin were always trained by Sandaime Sarutobi back when they were mere Gennins. Well, Naruto and Asami just had to play dumb even though the both of them just went there. 

The ex-Konoha shinobi was drifting off in his mind, while Kyuubi took partial control in moving his vessel's body. Naruto thought about how the fight could play out, how totally huge the gap of power he had attained ever since he was taken in by the Akatsuki. He was taught many things, techniques, battle strategies, weaknesses, and advices were kept in heart. All of them proved to be useful ever since he got them. Few of them tend to link to one another like a chain. Vital ones such as:

'Knowledge is power.' was one.

Yet another one was 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely.'

--_Begin Flashback—_

"_What do you mean all five of you are going to train me?" demanded Naruto as he stood in front of three Akatsuki members and Asami. _

_Out of the three Akatsuki members, he hated Itachi the most. Kisame was just plain annoying, really annoying. While Asami's father was just neutral at the moment, he didn't upset Naruto in any way yet._

_Naruto was directing the question to the four shinobis and a demon that was currently there in the recess of his mind. Though, Kyuubi was still behind the bars, much the other four's relief. It was their first time in Naruto's mindscape, one that they'll soon be getting used too to being there. He was standing there with only his dirty, rugged pants and badly worn shinobi boots in the very sewers and prison held the nine-tailed fox demon. _

_He wasn't even wearing his Konoha forehead protector, as he stood not too far away from the huge grand prison gates with the paper, that wrote seal, plastered as a padlock. It was quite odd how Kyuubi could pull people's mind into Naruto's mindscape. That was, if the person was willing to have their minds sucked into a Bijuu (tailed-demon) and Jinchuuriki's mind. Of course, Asami and the three Akatsuki members had to really get used to standing on one side of the prison while the greatest tailed-demon was on the other side. _

"_Geez, what part of the sentence didn't you understand? You're one really dumb brat, aren't you?" asked Kisame as he leaned on of the gray tunnel walls._

"_I understood every word, fish face." Replied Naruto as he scratched the back of his head, "But it wouldn't do any good if I have approximately one whole year only to train even under the teachings of crazy S-Ranked missing-nins and a demon."_

"_Then we'll just have to beat as much informations and teachings as we can for that whole time period," stated Kisame back. True, the three of them had agreed upon training him, but to make him even capable of handling a S-Ranked shinobi was something but miracles could do. _

_Raetsu, Itachi, Asami, and Kyuubi just remained quiet the whole time ever since Naruto pointed out the whole problem. They had settled in training him since he was their only hope at the moment of fighting the other six Akatsuki members. They were really much surprised when Kyuubi wanted to join in teaching him, which really was something anybody would expect. What will the Jinchuuriki be learning from his own Chiibi? Everyone there was powerful, yet the Akatsuki members just never battled it out to see who was the strongest. Though they did manage to rank Deidara as the weakest. The three of them including Asami just weren't even close enough in defeating all six of them in an all out brawl. _

"_May be not," said Asami._

_Everyone turned their attentions towards Asami; even the Kyuubi was looking down at her from the spaces of the bars._

"_Naruto, you once told me that Jiraiya had thrown you off a cliff just to teach you how to access Kyuubi's chakra at will, right?" pointed out Asami._

"_Yeah, but he didn't really taught how to actually tap into this demon's chakra over here." answered Naruto as he looked at Kyuubi._

"_**I lend him my chakra, not just give him permission to take it like it was his at will." **corrected Kyuubi. He didn't like the humans in front of him talking in such a way bout him._

_Though Raetsu seemed hesitant, he finally asked. "Lend...? What do you actually get in return?"_

"**_The brat here came and told me that I was like some free loader for being imprisoned in his body. I was to pay in chakra. Heck, like I could even choose the human to be sealed in. I don't even want to remove from my own body in the first place. It's just seemed pretty amusing for the brat to have the courage to talk to me like that, even on first glance._**

_Raetsu looked impressed at Naruto, though he didn't really show it. He really had to admit it. After hearing about it from his own daughter and the greatest tailed demon, the boy was really interesting. Itachi just remained expressionless upon the comment. Kisame wasn't bothered about what Kyuubi had said, he was still thinking upon Naruto's fall off the cliff._

"_The Sannin actually threw you down a cliff?" asked Kisame in confirmation._

"_He didn't actually threw me, more like push me through a bush where there was a deep, huge crack or pit behind it." explained Naruto._

"_Either way," stated Kisame as he tapped his feet in the water that totally submerged his feet, "You fell down."_

_Naruto nodded but didn't know where Asami was going with this. Kisame in a way liked the perverted Sannin in his crazy ways of teachings. Though the Swordsman of the Mist really had to say that the Sannin was really off his head. Making silly introductions right where he and Itachi stood, as they were about to take in Naruto a few months earlier._

"_Jiraiya already had the idea of how Naruto gains access to Kyuubi's chakra, it was either through intense emotion fluctuations like anger, hatred, or fear of death." pondered Raetsu upon the thought with his eyes closed. _

"_**Even birds have to push their chicks off a branch just to teach them how to fly. Of course those who didn't manage, well they made a pretty decent meals for awaiting foxes." **remembered Kyuubi behind the cage. **"Fond memories of my days as a young kittling... scrapping off dead chicks from the forest floor. Nothing stays young forever, even foxes." **_

_The three Akatsuki members and kunoichi shuddered again upon hearing his voice. Asami, Raetsu, Itachi, and Kisame would have a chill run down their spine every time the demon lord spoke. They still weren't used to hearing a demon talk, and were curious how Naruto could put up with such a presence of power and destruction._

"_You were eating off baby birds? They must be huge..." asked Naruto. "As big as a house?"_

" _**I wasn't born this huge," **answered Kyuubi as he looked down upon Naruto with a vein popping in his forehead. The first thing Kyuubi was definitely going to teach him what common sense was all about._

"_Idiot," chorused Kyuubi, Itachi, Kisame, Raetsu, and even Asami all together. All of them had something in common, even between humans and a demon. The Jinchuuriki (vessel) was slow and stupid, and they definitely have to change that._

"_We're drifting away from the subject," pointed out Itachi. He looked at Raetsu's daughter, "What did you have in mind?"_

"_You told me that you actually talked to Kyuubi, asking him to lend his chakra for a few minutes while falling down. Right?" pointed out Asami._

"_Yeah, So what?" asked back Naruto. _

"_Look, you had a mild conversation with a demon when you were falling off a cliff." Explained Asami as she began looking around the walls and sewers. "I'm surprised you didn't fall splat on the bottom of the pit by the time you woke up from this mindscape thing. What I'm trying to say is that may be time passed much faster here than out there. If it that's true, may be we could use that to our advantage in training the Genin over here longer than just one whole year."_

"_Chuunin," corrected Naruto with an annoyed face, "Why do you keep forgetting? Tsunade-obachan, I mean the Godaime Hokage, promoted me to Chuunin right after I brought back Sasuke's sorry ass back to Konoha. You'd think Tsunade would just say congratulations on a job well done to six Gennins who had actually performed an A-Ranked mission? Six Gennins of the Leaf, each walking away with their lives after fighting off the snake bastard's own personnel bodyguards. Not that it really matters to me anymore…"_

"_Orochimaru has his own personnel bodyguards now?" asked Kisame as he just took out his Samehada and let it rest on his shoulder. "The Snake must be far weaker than I thought."_

_Itachi seemed to be interested upon his brother's first attempt of leaving the village. But then he reminded himself, "You're drifting off the subject again. Tell us whether that's true or any means possible." _

_Naruto tried to remember the moments back when he was falling off the cliff. He tried to explain himself upon everything that happened. The pit was really deep, true, yet the conversation was just too short to even come to conclusion that time passes much faster here than out in reality. It was deep enough that he managed to summoned Gamabunta right there, and the frog boss still looked idly small compared the huge crack of earth. He turned and looked at Kyuubi, see if the demon lord had anything to say._

"_May be one of us should return back to our bodies. See if there really is a difference in time period in here and back in reality." Suggested Raetsu. He gave a thought and said, "Asami, just count up to five minutes when you're out."_

"_Yeah, sure. Otou-san." Obeyed Asami. _

"_I'll try to time out the whole time you're out. See the difference even if it is by a few seconds," explained Raetsu. "We'll need all the time we can get."_

_Asami turned around to walk down the sewer line as though it was leading to an exit. She came to realize there was no exit in this mindscape. "Though I don't really know how to get back. Ano…Kyu…Kyubi-sama?"_

_Kyuubi was definitely satisfied that at least there were some humans in this world that would show respect, whether it was merely out of fear or true understanding. All the other humans he had meet before kept shouting curses or shout in fear. Then again, he was killing them off so that he could destroy their village or whatever place they would call it. The nine tails just sat there behind the bars doing nothing, however Asami began to faze out like she was slowly disappearing into thin air._

"_Let's say there is this so called difference in the time period," pondered Naruto as he locked at what remained of three shinobis and a demon. "What exactly would all of you be teaching me?"_

"_Everything there is to be in order, for the four of us to kill off those back stabbers." Answered Kisame. "After all these years…"_

_Kisame was just wondering why the hell this was happening. An agreement ever since the ten missing-nins got together, which had been for over years. Back when Itachi was only a fourteen-year-old boy, and now the Uchiha clan killer was already nineteen. Things happened, how Orochimaru cowardly withdrew from Akatsuki a year after that. Of all the things Kisame had been through, and this was the least thing that he thought off that would be possible. In truth, all of them had betrayed their own Hidden villages._

"_What are the techniques that you know?" asked Itachi, straight to the point. _

_This brought back to Kisame's attention. Kyuubi tried to adjust himself to the beast position he could be while sitting in a cramped prison. Raetsu and Kisame were also curious to what the boy was capable off. What techniques could he actually do with that seemingly limitless supply of chakra?_

"_Why? So you could just copy them off with your Sharingan?" fought back Naruto. He narrowed his eyes into the cold red and back eyes that were the Sharingan._

_Itachi was definitely his least favourite person in Akatsuki right after Sakai. The nineteen year old Uchiha reminded him too much off about Sasuke, the family resemblance was just too obvious. Bastard geniuses simply because they could copy almost all shinobi techniques there is with their stupid Sharingan. The scratched hitae headband wasn't even helping: it just made it even worse. How Naruto had scratched Sasuke's forehead with the red chakra Kyuubi claw, and break all four joints Sasuke had. Dragging his sorry ass back to Konohagakure and in turn remembered him about Sakura. How her words could later be related to the annoying stares the villagers gave him for the past twelve whole years of his life. That could be linked about how Kyuubi was really telling the truth, and that lead to his realization of how pathetic and useless his dream was. How all he ever wanted was nothing more than a lie. Which really was the least thing he wanted to be reminded about. _

_All of those painful and idle memories simply because of a shinobi wearing a scratched Konoha forehead protector._

"_No, so all three of us know what set up on. It would be useless and wasting our time if we're busy trying to teach or perfect anything you already know." Answered Itachi._

"_I'm sure Kyu…Kyubi-sama already know what you're capable of," added Raetsu._

"_**Yes, but only recently."** Spoke Kyuubi lazily. But he had slight tinge of joy as he said, **"I think I'll personally pay my thanks to that seal crazed vermin." **_

_The three Akatsuki members didn't even feel sorry or guilt for what awaits Sakai later on. Raetsu wasn't going to miss that, the missing Rain-nin was just as mad as Orochimaru. He was all over seals much like how Orochimaru was all over immortality._

"_Well, I know the basic henge, kawarimi (replacement), Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, summoning, Rasengan…" Thought up Naruto. He didn't even have to try and check by counting with his fingers and marking them off. All of that was just enough for all five fingers on his hand. _

_Meanwhile Kisame, Raetsu, and Itachi looked as though they were expecting the boy to keep on talking for at least a few more techniques. But he just remained quiet and puzzled upon their awaiting faces._

"_I think that's about it…" finished Naruto as he finally caught on._

"_Just that?" asked Raetsu in puzzlement._

"_Stop bluffing and fooling around, brat. You're the student of that Copy Kakashi." Commented Kisame as he looked seriously at Naruto. "Man of a thousand Jutsus." _

"_Only five techniques….and two of them are the basics in becoming a henge." Stated Itachi as he gave a full assessment._

"_You're sure? May be you just forgot to mention some other techniques like the simple Bunshin?" asked Raetsu in doubt._

"_Nope, I got everything down. I can't perform a simple Bunshin." Answered Naruto. _

"_**Believe me, that's about it." **Chimed in Kyuubi as he felt amused watching the four humans talk to one another._

"_Yet you could perform Kage Bunshin?" said Kisame, "Just what the heck is wrong with you?"_

"_Rasengan?" suddenly realized Itachi as he counted down the techniques again. "Show it to me, if what you say is true."_

_Naruto wasn't liking this one bit, and the Uchiha was going to copy off his prized technique because of the stupid Sharingan. He felt that those accursed Doujutsu was the most unfair thing that ever existed in the shinobi world. Simply copying down techniques and movements where each shinobi probably worked their ass off learning and training each Jutsu. That was something really unfair. He didn't want to waste anytime since Kyuubi, Kisame, Itachi and Raetsu had their attentions on him. Naruto held out his right hand and began to concentrate chakra._

_The blue chakra swirled in his right palm, taking shape into a sphere without any help of a Kage Bunshin to mould it with its two hands. All three Akatsuki members were intrigued by such technique, they knew this was one of the few trademark techniques of the famous Konoha Yellow Flash. Naruto was able to master the Rasengan using only one hand under the teachings of Erro Sennin. He had left Konohagakure, with the Toad Hermit, and spent only two months out there before the Akatsuki members came in. Naruto wasn't even sure why he was practicing the Rasengan during the whole time. He wasn't interested in anything else ever since his breakdown except the idea of leaving Konoha. _

_The Kyuubi vessel looked at Itachi and expected him to performing the Rasengan in his hand. But it never came, Itachi merely gazed it like it a woman watching a huge chunk of diamond. There it was, the technique of the great Konoha Yellow Flash. Naruto was puzzled, and voiced out his thought._

"_Aren't you going to do the Rasengan with your own hand?"_

_Itachi had his third leveled Sharingan activated, but kept silent. Kisame and Raetsu had a smug look on their faces._

"_He can't." answered Raetsu with crossed arms. "He can't even copy it."_

"_Huh?" was the only thing that Naruto could say upon Raetsu's words._

"_The Sharingan can't actually copy every Jutsu there is." Explained Kisame. "There are certain requirements that have to be met before the Sharingan can actually aid the user in performing the exact Jutsu." _

"_The so called Sharingan can only copy techniques that have seals in order to be activated. They can't copy other bloodline techniques, the Kekkai Genkai as you call it, summonings since the shinobi user has to sign a contract, and mostly S-Rated Jutsus."._

_explained Raetsu knowledgably. _

_Itachi didn't seem pleased as his teammates began explaining the weaknesses of the Sharingan. In truth, he never expected the Uchiha's prized Doujutsu (Eye Technique) would have numerous flaws. One that could prove to be a very big disadvantage when someone else knows about it. _

_Naruto had the all-usual confused face as he heard Raetsu and Kisame began taking turns in talking. Raetsu saw this and further explained._

"_Pay attention to every word that I say," started off Raetsu like a teacher. Out of the three of them, he had the best teaching skills since he had trained his own daughter like a student. _

"_Over all, there are four types of Jutsus (techniques) in the shinobi world, got it?" uttered Raetsu. Naruto gave a nod, it was like back in the ninja Academy all over again. But this he actually had a teachers whose purpose is only teaching him and him only. _

"_Those techniques are Ninjutsu, Taijutsu (Physical technique), Genjutsu (Illusionary technique), and Haijutsu (Blood limit technique). Now, these four Jutsus can be sorted out into levels. There are only six level of Jutsus: E level, D level, C level, B level, A level, and finally the S level."_

_Asami's father could see the deep concentration and eagerness in the boy's eyes. He definitely had the vessel's full attention. _

"_The E level Jutsus are the all basic moves that each shinobi from any village should know. The simple henge(transformation), Bunshin(clone), and Kawarimi(replacement)._

_D level Jutsus are those that are used to further enhance once abilities with the aid of chakra concentrated in them. For example focusing the chakra in the ears for better hearing and in the nose for better smelling." Tutored Raetsu._

"_**Hey brat, the human-beast transformation that mutt wannabe and his whelp used is one fine example."** Interrupted Kyuubi all of a sudden._

_Naruto then remembered back his fight with Kiba and Akamaru back in the Chuunin exam. Raetsu didn't seem frustrated upon the halt, since he couldn't really do anything about it. Itachi took note that the nine tailed fox was probably talking about some member of the Inuzuka clan. Naruto then tried to remember other techniques he could place as a D level Jutsu._

"_**And don't forget the pink haired bitch when she used chakra to speed up her movements."** Continued Kyuubi._

_Naruto couldn't help having Kyuubi ransacking his memories; it was troublesome since the demon could even remember the very memories he had like it was his own._

"_C level techniques are the all usual techniques that all Chuunins are capable of. Summonings could be taken as a C level technique, even the weakest of Chuunins can perform a simple summon if they can obtain a contract that is. Now summonings are a completely whole different topic, I'm not going to talk about it at the moment." Continued Raetsu._

"_B level techniques are the techniques that a Jounin could possibly perform with some exceptions in Chuunins and Gennins. Most of the Chuunins or Gennins that could do these techniques usually are from clans with blood line-limits. Yet even they have to take a long time in learning a B level technique. If they could even do it, perfecting that Jutsu would be another agenda in their hands. _

"_The Kage Bunshin is a B level technique." Stated Itachi who looked just as bored as Kisame. The two were wondering when the hell Asami was going to return, if this things were right, this definitely will prove to be useful in training Naruto for what seem to be only one year on the outside world._

_Kyuubi was all happy inside in his own mind, because Naruto could sense or actually feel it himself as it came around. Though the Jinchuuriki didn't know why and was too busy paying attention to Raetsu. _

"_I'm going to finish things up," said Raetsu, "The A level techniques are those that Kage level shinobis and S-Ranked missing-nins are capable of. Most of them are Kinjutsus (Forbidden Techniques). They tend to have too much destructive power, and it comes with huge disadvantages such as huge amounts of chakra that would probably kill them off themselves. Of course we S-Ranked shinobis are aware of the danger from the Jutsus learned or develop by ourselves. Now, the final one: S level techniques. These techniques are rare since they're the best out of all the other five. They are created out of scratch by one shinobi for example, and no other shinobi can ever copy it even if it's studied or put under the Sharingan. Destructive powers, no side effects what so ever, and few of them don't even need seals at all, but chakra usage may vary. The Rasengan you just performed and the Magenkyou Sharingan are somewhere between A and S level. All of us here in the Akatsuki have a range of S-Rated Jutsus that is a fact. Though none of us has ever shown to one another except Itachi." _

_Naruto and Kyuubi turned and looked at Itachi. Sasuke's brother didn't seem to like the attention one bit as he turned his back towards their faces._

"_The Amaterasu, something that looks like a black flame, is one of the strongest Katon you could probably find around. It can simply be sealed off like it was nothing more like than an exploded Bunshin (clone) however." Said Raetsu._

"_Man, I'll never forget that face, Itachi. The day Sakai just took in and sealed away your Amaterasu into one of his scrolls." Laughed Kisame as a tear fell out. _

"_That, was you're first lesson." Finally Raetsu finished. _

'_Man, that guy sure can jabber when he wants to.' Thought Kisame as he looked at Naruto and Raetsu._

_When Asami did come back into the mindscape, it was Kyuubi whom actually timed the whole place in the recess of his mind. The time gap wasn't really big like how Asami thought, though it was just enough. 15 minutes compared to the 5 minutes outside. A simple minute out side was equivalent to three minutes in the mindscape. A whole year would only mean three years of training, and the Akatsuki members and Asami were only convinced that they could only draw in a possible fight._

"_Then, we'll just have to add the numbers then." Suggested Naruto who was now sitting cross-legged in the sewer line mindscape. "Outnumber them by at least two on one."_

"_What are you suggesting, we call in reinforcements?" joked Kisame._

"_Even if we did, they should be just as strong as any of us." Added Asami. _

"_Look, we'll solve this agenda later on. If we can't train you to be just as strong as we want you to be, then we'll ponder about asking for other's help." Stated Itachi._

"_**Looks like some of us just have to make some sacrifices then,"** said Kyuubi all of a sudden that startled all five shinobis in their place._

"**_Brat, when I meant you'll be training for three years. I mean three whole years straight. I won't have you stupidly waste your time sleeping, shitting, or anything else."_**

_Naruto paled upon the thought, what was the demon up to. Heck, no toilets?_

"_Wha……not even a trip to the toilet?"_

"_I'll spend every human so called seconds there is, in training you with or without these so called cultists. The only time I'll let out from here is when you go eat or drink, don't even think of pissing or shitting off. I'm going to make your body absorb everything there is your food, even if it means burning them off using chakra. The only thing you'll be getting rid of wastes is the air that you breathe out. Got it? You humans always say train for this long or that long, yet then sleep off wasting precious time by at least a third of the whole time." Said Kyuubi._

"_So the brat is not even going to shit?" repeated Kisame as he looked at the Kyuubi vessel._

"_**No, what is it with you humans and shits anyway?"** pondered Kyuubi on the topic. Definitely disgusting wretches you humans are turning out to be, **"You don't see any of the tailed demons leaving a huge pile of shit around."**_

_The five humans that were right in front of the cage had their thoughts bubbled out like a typical cartoon, forming one huge thought. A humongous pile of shit the size of the Hokage tower just laying there in a wrecked village. The bubble thought popped out as all five of them violently shook their heads._

"_We'll take turns in teaching him, since we don't want to raise suspicions. Don't want Raiha being all paranoid than he already is. All of us won't be here all the time, so the turns may change from time to time. If any of us aren't here, the others will replace him while the absentee will replace back his lesson later on. Of course, Kyuubi will be teaching him at all times." _

"_**Just to let you know, he completely learned the Kage Bunshin off a forbidden scroll under six hours. Plus, he made probably around fifty or so on his first trial run in battle." **Stated Kyuubi._

_The Akatsuki members thought this definitely would speed things up, unlike copying it off with the Sharingan. Little did they know, the Kyuubi vessel would do more than just that. Kyuubi already had plans on what was in store for the boy when none of these cultists were around. All the Jutsus he had ever encountered from past shinobis when he wrecked hell upon the surface of the earth, the demonic knowledge he could consider possible for a human to be passed off, and not to mention to go down memory lane. The memory when Naruto opened the Forbidden scroll, and simply scanned through for what was the easiest Jutsu available until he met his eyes on the Kage Bunshin. He may not remember, but as long as he had seen a glimpse of it, Kyuubi could search the memory no matter where it was. Memories don't just disappear like how some humans put it as forgotten, they just aren't accessible when it was to be recalled in remembrance. _

_As Naruto began fazing out into the real world, he just realized something. He tapped Raetsu on the shoulders._

"_I still get to take a bath right?" asked Naruto._

"_If you don't, I know there's a certain kunoichi that would love give you a bath even though you're much like in a coma state." began Kisame as he gave a glance at Asami._

_Both father and daughter gave a hard punch on Kisame's shoulders from both sides. Even Naruto and Itachi gave a slight wince from watching how Kisame yelped in pain. After the situation was clear, the nine tails fox demon let out a sigh of relief._

'_**Rest all you can, brat. Cause by the time we're done with you, you'll understand the true definition of pain and a glimpse of what Hell really is. Since you're definitely not the type that will rot in there forever or even go there for that matter. Just going to show the things that what you'll be missing…' **thought Kyuubi as by himself as the five humans vanished out from the mindscape. _

--End Flashback--

"**Oi, brat! We're here!"** shouted Kyuubi out loud in Naruto's head, instantly snapping him out of the trip down memory lane.

Naruto stood once more at the training grounds of Team 7, though the skies above were starting to get darker as time passed by. Gaara had his eyes on the memorial stone while the other Sand-nins kept theirs on Sasuke. Kisame, Kabuto, and Asami wouldn't even notice if Kyuubi took partial control without a note. Baki and his students were standing not too far away from their Kazekage. The Leaf ANBU guards stationed their places beside Tsunade and Shizune. They felt a little inferior since Naruto's action of blocking Lady Chiyo's attack earlier before. Perhaps that's why there were only four of them being the Kazekage's personnel guards.

"Are you sure you want to go through this? You have a Jounin exam tomorrow next thing in the morning." Reminded Sakura.

"It's just going to be a spar. Besides, if I get hurt, I have three of the best medic-nins in the whole wide world." Replied Sasuke with a smirk.

Sakura wasn't really surprised upon Sasuke's action; he did open up a little when he was with the pink hair kunoichi. She gave a light pat on the back of the Uchiha's Chuunin vest. Sai just remained emotionless as he can. The guy tried to act the usual 'I don't have feelings' things, but it some how began to change bit by bit without him realizing. Kakashi kept observing Kabuto, Kisame, Asami, and Naruto from a distance since they left from the grounds. There was something wrong or weird about them, he just couldn't pinpoint what it was. He wasn't even sure what he was feeling.

"Do me a favour. Don't end the fun too early, will you?" asked Kankurou. "It's been one heck of a boring day with the usual walking with no action whatsoever. "I don't want to return to the inn and go to sleep just yet. Baki probably wants you to make Sasuke over there show a little bit more of his Jutsus and tricks for his student."

Naruto just remained silent just as Asami, Kabuto, and Kisame had been. All four of them knew that the ANBU guards already heard Kankurou's words. Probably because of enhanced hearings or by watching Kankurou's lips move about forming words. Naruto gave a grunt and startedto move into the middle of the open, as Sasuke did the same. The spectators stood out like a line all the way from the three wooden poles towards the memorial stone.

"You watch yourself, you're like a completely whole different person when you're fighting. Especially this is your first time fighting a Leaf-nin." Advised Gaara with no worry of blowing his bodyguard's cover.

Naruto stopped in his tracks, turning around to have a look on the Sand-nins. He gave slight gesture at Asami by giving his own punch to the side of the arms. She was relieved that Naruto knew what their Kazekage meant.

Kabuto took note to just keep his mouth shut even after they would return back to the inn. He already knew the consequences when it came to joking around both Asami and Naruto at the same time. Watching Kisame fool around for only a month, he already got the message. However, the mist-nin or now ANBU Sand-nin, was just plain stubborn even after those harsh comebacks. He couldn't help it really, it was plain fun ticking off that couple.

The leaf-nins thought this was peculiar, especially Tsunade. The Kazekage never talked much. That advice was the longest saying they had ever heard coming from the Shukaku vessel. The Sand captain was creepy as it is, just how would join into a fight change him?

'_Let's just see how things will turn out. May be he'll turn out to be Itachi if I'm lucky.'_ said Sasuke all to himself.

Sasuke started off with the usual shuriken toss as around eight of them zoomed their way towards Naruto. Naruto already took out a double-edged kunai with his left hand and blocked off each of them easily. The thin metal shurikens were reflected off the kunai, and were scattered off all over the earth soil. Sasuke crouched down in a running position and took off. The Uchiha prodigy seemed to have disappeared in an instant, sped off really fast, and was already behind the ANBU captain.

"Too bad," breathed Sasuke at the cloaked figure as he moved in for a fast roundhouse kick at the back of the head.

Of course Gaara, Kankurou, Baki, and the rest of the Leaf-nins already knew this was the usual technique he had copied off Lee. Though they had to say, this was truly a bit faster than he usually was. The kick simply cut through the air where the head was supposed to be, though Sasuke wasn't really expecting the attack to even connect. The Sand captain was really fast, he already knew this when he saw Naruto took in Lady Chiyo's kunai. Sasuke just wanted to see if he could match or surpass that speed.

Sasuke turned around to see Naruto: already standing fifteen feet away when the ANBU captain launched several more shurikens than Sasuke had thrown a few seconds before. Sasuke did the same thing as he took out a kunai, though with his right hand, and blocked off the incoming shurikens. The Uchiha could have simply dodged or ran away, but he just wanted to show off that he was just as good as the Naruto.

'_Still the same arrogant and show off teme (bastard) you are,'_ commented Naruto in his head as he released four more shurikens.

Sasuke was completely taken by surprise when the last four shurikens had grazed through the skin of his right arm and left thigh. He managed to block off all the other shurikens that came after him, why wasn't he able to block off the other four? He winced in pain as the cold metallic weapons passed away, struck and embedded themselves into one of the tall trees that surrounded the training area.

"What the hell…." Cursed Sasuke as briefly looked down at the minor cuts. He expected the ANBU to attack but he wasn't even trying anything.

"That guy's really fast," stated a Leaf ANBU guard who was wearing a hazel brown decorated frog mask.

The captain of the Leaf ANBU team who was wearing a dark blue eagle mask looked at the ground. "Not just that. You should look at the ground between those two."

Everyone else including Tsunade heard the comment and easily followed. It wasn't really dark yet; they could still see clearly what was around.

"The Sand-nin took all of Sasuke's discarded shurikens and threw it along with his own set of shurikens," implied Sai as he caught on.

Kakashi made his way to the tree had been struck by the shurikens, and pulled one off. He wasn't afraid of missing any action since the two competitors just stood there on the guard. The son of the Konoha White Fang then made his way to one of Baki's students, Hirami.

"If you would be so kind, may I borrow one of your shurikens?" asked Kakashi politely with a happy expression that can be seen through his eyes.

The Chuunin kunoichi looked at Baki whom agreed. She took out a shuriken from her small pocket bag at the back of her waist.

"Arigato," thanked Kakashi with a slight bow as he held it in the other hand.

He gave a close inspection on the metal projectile on his right hand with his right eye, the normal one, and was impressed. He took out one of his own, then compared the three shurikens altogether.

"Yep, this shuriken is Sasuke's alright. You can tell the difference between ours and the Sand's from the slight alterations."

Each village even had their own style of kunai and shuriken designing. It wasn't really a big deal; there were just minor alterations such as in terms of weight or length. It's not something that other villages would go crazy if they could get their hands on another's. Longer handles, blade tips, or materials weren't much of a bother. These things were meant to be thrown around and mostly left to rust. Nothing special.

"So he dodged the incoming attack, had the time to pick off all the scattered shurikens, and stand like nothing happened several feet away?" questioned Sakura as Naruto stood still.

The Kyuubi vessel didn't even move after releasing the last four shurikens at Sasuke. All of them took this as a sign that he wasn't rushing into things, holding out a defensive pose, and probably analyzing every move. They just felt uneasy when the Sand ANBU elite, who was Kisame, was actually chuckling in delight. The other two with just didn't make any sound, or even bother control their comrade. Gaara, Kankurou, and Baki didn't have anything to say for the matter. 'Probably this was how the he would react when their captain wasn't there to control him?'

Sasuke was now very excited, fighting of a much stronger opponent much like how he fought all of Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin (Water Clones) on the bridge. He finally activated the Uchiha blood-lined Doujutsu, the Sharingan.

"I bet you already know what these eyes can do," said Sasuke as he flexed his fingers. His hands quickly and smoothly began making hand seals and started off again with the all too familiar technique. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu! (Fire Element: Grand Fire Ball Technique)

Naruto made his own set of seals, under the cloak, and slammed both palms on the ground. His fingers then clawed their way into the earth like their were just grains of sand. He never mentioned the technique at all, though Kisame, Asami, and Kabuto already knew what it was.

'Doton: Doroku Gaeshi (Earth Element: Upside-down Mud wall)' all three of them voiced out in their minds. They knew he was testing off most of the techniques he had acquired from Orochimaru's scroll. This was one of the techniques that belonged to Jiroubo, a Sound Five member. Naruto just couldn't vomit a wall of mud out of his mouth with the mask on.

A huge wall of rock and dirt was pulled out, after chakra sipped through Naruto's fingers into the ground. It had spread out and collected the rocks and dirt together from the ground, and only waited to be pulled out by the two hands. Naruto pulled the huge slab of earth that soon would be acting as a barrier between him and the attack. The compact wall of earth easily took the direct heat of the fire.

"Clever. Very clever indeed," complimented one of the Leaf ANBU guards.

Sakura gave a snort, "Heh, he just blocked a Sasuke-kun's Katon. What's so great about that?"

"You're failing too see it, Sakura." warned Tsunade. Eenher assistant, Shizune had to agree. This was one tone she used every time Sakura got too cocky while learning Medical Jutsu.

"The Sharingan is famous for the ability to copy off Jutsus. That's one of the reasons why the Uchiha are well known. But the Sand ANBU already solved the problem of preventing his Jutsu from being copied down by Sasuke." explained Kakashi.

Sai had his eyes on the battlefield but said, "His cloak totally covers his hands and body. The Sharingan can't see through that cloak of his to copy down the chain of seals in setting off the Jutsu. It's really simple."

Since Naruto couldn't see what was happening behind the wall, Sasuke took the advantage performed a few more seals and finally ended. His right hand with the index and middle finger pointed out, resting on the back of his left hand. He then slammed his right palm on the ground. 'Earth Element: Earthquake Pulse'. The ground quickly began collapsed in a line as it made its way right at Naruto. The wall of rocks and dirt collapsed right on top of Naruto while the earth beneath him cracked away taking him in along with the chunks of earth on top of him.

"Isn't that a bit too much for a spar?" Chiro directed the question at Baki.

Baki simply answered, "Just watch. You'll learn a thing or two."

Just when Baki finished off, the earth continued to shake even after Sasuke held back his hands and began looking around for Naruto. Knowing the ANBU captain, he had probably run several feet away already. The rumble began to grow more violent as time passed by each minute.

'_Crap, he's going to use that thing.'_ thought Kabuto as he looked back between Kabuto and Asami.

'_He's the one that's going too much for a simple spar,'_ thought Kisame with a shark grin under the bone white ANBU mask.

'_Show off,'_ was the only thing that ran through Asami.

The ground where Naruto had fell rose up, and suddenly snaked its way up in a serpent like manner. It shot out clouds of dust and debris as the earth continued growing out of the hole. The pillar of earth began to bend into a serpent like figure, with pieces of rocks as its scales. Naruto could clearly be seen on top of its head, looking down on the shock stricken Uchiha. He averted his attention through the spectators and finally ended on the

Memorial Stone.

"What in Kami-sama's name is that?" awed three of Baki's students.

"Don't know, never seen it before." Answered Baki. Even he didn't see this one coming, it's just that he wanted to keep his composure in check for the benefit of students.

The Leaf-nins including Tsunade were speechless, none of them ever heard or seen such technique back when Earth and Leaf waged wars ten years ago. It seemed powerful, why wasn't it used back then. Perhaps it was a newly developed Jutsu.

'Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu (Earth Element: Dragon Blast Technique)' chorused all four Sand ANBU elites together in their minds. Of course, they didn't actually knew they were saying this altogether.

Kakashi raised his slanted Konoha headband, revealing the transplanted Sharingan on his left eye. He observed every part of the solid rock dragon that eyed down Sasuke like a prey. "It's a variant of the Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Dragon Blast Technique). What I'm interested in is his how he got those chakra path ways in that body of his…."

A Leaf ANBU, whom just happened to be a Hyuuga, activated his Byakugan in order to understand what Kakashi was talking about. Both Byakugan and Sharingan had the ability to see the human chakra system like an X-Ray scan. He could just rub his eyes in disbelief if it weren't for the ANBU mask, but just settled with a violent shake of the head. The Hyuuga ANBU said, "I don't even want to know how he got those chakra path ways. It's like he's got several different networks of chakra pathways linked altogether with all usual normal chakra system. But they're just empty for now, there's no chakra flowing through any of the separate paths at the moment."

The chakra system can't simply just change as soon as it had developed. That's one of the reasons why a newborn baby such as Naruto and Gaara were used as containers of the demons. Babies don't even have chakra pathways, so it doesn't cause conflicts, malfunctions and complications between the Chiibi and the Jinchuuriki. As the young Jinchuuriki grows, the chakra system develops and connects automatically to the alternate source. Once it's developed, it's almost impossible to have the chakra coils altered in any way.

Almost.

Orochimaru had been known to surgically alter the chakra pathways within a person's body. This was discovered when the ANBU scout team brought back the dead bodies of the Sound five, Orochimaru's personnel guards. It was obvious from the moment they laid their eyes on Kindoumaru, the Sound-nin with the spider like abilities. From all six hands and two legs making eight, the spider summonings, chakra induced spider threads and webs. How Orochimaru had managed to join up the extra four hands, give a third eye on the forehead, with chakra pathways in them, they didn't want to know.

The Leaf-nins were actually discussing while watching the whole spar play out before them. At the same time, the Sand-nins were eavesdropping on what their allies could come out with about their proud Sand ANBU elites.

Shizune suggested, "May be it's like some sort of back up pathways, in case he got his Tenketsus (Chakra holes where chakra is released from the body) sealed away like a Hyuuga gentle fist style or something. Then he could relay the chakra to flow through the empty path ways."

"Or may be there's a possibility of too much chakra flowing in his body, the empty chakra pathways just act as a different means of passage. Not to overload the body like how Lee once did when opened his gates in fighting back in the Chuunin exams." Added Sakura.

"Possibly both," concluded Tsunade with a slight worry. She caught the weird faces of Shizune and Sakura staring at her. "That ANBU captain has the highest chakra reserve between all the Sand-nins, even including Gaara. The one with the huge sword strapped at his back also has quite a chakra reserve. Both monstrously high for an average Jounin, these two seem to surpass their own Kazekage. What bothers me the most is that the two of them are suppressing them."

"Now that is a bit too much for a spar," quoted Kankurou.

'I should have brought a bag of popcorn….' Sighed Gaara in his mind.

"Sugoii (Amazing)..." breathed Chiro and Hirami. Takagi couldn't utter a word. Baki definitely agreed that taking them was one of the best things that happened in Suna.

Even after serving Suna for over a year, there weren't much rumors on how really strong their special task force ANBU were. The identity of ANBU members were kept secret, well except for those four. Their identities were only well known to the whole council, some of the ANBU, Jounins, and Chuunins of Sunagakure. The citizens of Suna that didn't knew their identities, knew they were previous missing-nins. But that didn't matter, they managed to accept and acknowledge a Jinchuuriki as their Kazekage. So why bother who they were? It's just what their real capabilities were, they had wondered. They did bring a drastic change ever since they set foot on Wind Country.

"Oh yeah? Let see how that thing favor against this," challenged Sasuke as he made the next chain of different hand seals. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

The near by river where Naruto was sent off by back in the bell test, rose up much like Naruto's dragon with glowing red eyes. Both elemental dragons gave a loud roar to each other as they clashed head on. Of course, the water dragon just splashed way after impact, flooding down on the grass below. The result was clear, it was like shooting a water gun at a concrete wall. Naruto was still on earth dragon's head, escaped with nothing more than having nothing more but drenched clothes. Sasuke clenched his teeth and fist altogether in complete rage and anger. Even if Naruto couldn't see it from high above, he could already guess what the Uchiha was probably doing.

Naruto was took all his opponents seriously, he was completely beaten to remember almost everything he had ever been taught. Never underestimate an opponent it was. But this just was ridiculous.

'_Tough luck, Sasuke-teme (bastard). Don't worry, the night is still young,'_ thought Naruto. _'Guess this fox will play around a little with the bat, snake or whatever that is you've become before settling back into his den. Got a big snake to catch and torture tomorrow.' _

His sand brown cloak swayed a little by the cold night breeze. This was a spar, and Naruto always did play around in sparring. Of course, the term playing could completely taken into a whole new level. Much like how fox cubs would play around with one another, yet unconsciously developing the instincts of killing in the hunting trips to come.

He was going to do just that. Play around with the Chuunin Uchiha, and go hunting for Orochimaru the next day.

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Sorry, I'm real sorry ! If the latest update turn up to be really boring. I've tried reading and edit it over and over again. Somehow this chapter just sucks in my opinion. Guess I'm still trying to fill in the loopholes. I promise I'll try my best in the next one. It's been one crappy month, no Internet access and stuff. Rate and Review, People! Please? 


	8. Glimpse of power

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.**

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"A Sand-nin capable of Earth type Jutsus so far," speculated Kakashi as he rubbed his mask covered chin thoughtfully.

Sasuke was brainstorming every possible Jutsus he could use to counter the monstrosity that towered before him. Naruto hadn't made a move, just like when he finished throwing off the shurikens. This kept Sasuke on the edge, making him think every single possibility was going on along with what Jutsus he could use at the same time.

"He's challenging Sasuke," stated Tsunade in a serious manner. "Indirectly in a way."

Shizune hesitantly moved around to get a better look of the Godaime Hokage. The only time she was this serious was when she had some major paperwork, life threatening surgeries that needed her personal treatment, or meetings with the Council.

"What do you mean, Tsunade-sensei?" asked Sakura.

"One would say that he's not rushing into a fight, observing and predicting his opponent's every move. In this case, Sasuke over there." Said Tsunade. "But from the looks of it, it's clear that he's not. He's challenging Sasuke to do better, to out best him in every way. He already pointed out he's by far faster than Sasuke. Sasuke now moved on to Ninjutsu…."

"But Sasuke-kun's Sharingan has copied a lot of Ninjutsus. Even if this guy has his own reserve of Ninjutsu tricks, I bet Sasuke-kun has a whole lot more. Sasuke-kun is definitely going to beat him this time!" pointed out Sakura with confidence.

"That and the fact he was trained by a Sannin far back. A treacherous and evil one, but a Sannin no doubt." added an ANBU member.

Tsunade didn't seem convinced. She had seen and learned a lot in life. "True. But sometimes, it's not the number of cards you've got. It's how you play them."

Kisame and Asami really had to agree with Naruto on this one: the old lady was really fit to become the Hokage. Kabuto already knew that long before he met Kisame and Asami. Even if that a nothing more but a comment, few shinobis in the world would realize that fact. Most of them, including some Sannin by the name of Orochimaru, were the ones that never or just plain ignorant to realize this.

'_You have no idea,'_ thought up Asami. _'Even if he shows some Konoha trademark techniques, there's no way they would even suspect the captain of an elite ANBU squad is Naruto. ' _

"You think you're all that, don't you?" asked Sasuke, still trying to get a grip on things.

He wanted to buy some time as much as possible. "Tell you what, let's bring this spar up a notch. The first shinobi to lay a wound on the other wins. A simple cut on the skin or a heavy wound, whatever. We have three of the best medic-nins around."

Kisame elbowed Kabuto playfully after Sasuke said the words 'best medic-nin'. Kabuto just elbowed back, much harder than Kisame's own. Asami just rolled her eyes behind the mask, and gave both of them each an elbow to the ribs.

The other spectators turned their attention towards the two Sand ANBU whom were crouched down on the knees. Each grasping the side of their rib with huge sweat drops of regret.

After several seconds of brainstorming, he finally found one Jutsu that was just as good.

It was one of the strongest water techniques that Kakashi had taught him; he should have done this one from the start. The set of seals needed to perform this Jutsu was indeed long, but Naruto didn't seem to mind. Uchiha Sasuke pointed out the last hand seal towards the towering earth dragon and shouted out loud,

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Element: Great Waterfall Technique)!"

The water from the near by river spiraled its way like a vortex towards Naruto's earth Jutsu. With the force enough to uproot away trees off the ground, it began to tear the bits of chakra held earth. It was slowly engulfing the serpentine structure and slowly, but surely destroying it. Kisame was slightly impressed upon the Uchiha's performance on a B Level technique of the Hidden Mist. The earth was washed away as showers of mud fell onto the training ground that was of Team 7. Puddles slowly formed everywhere as it slightly rained from the clash of earth dragon and vortex of water.

All of them saw as Naruto jumped out of the twister of water, totally unaffected by the strong current of the water Jutsu. The serpentine structure began to change its shape as it collapsed down on to the ground. It was now nothing more but a huge pile of mud. Naruto's clothes were once again soaking wet, as water dripped down from the sides of his Sand cape. Bits of mud splashed onto his cloak, pants, and shinobi boots. (Are they sandals or boots?) The fact how he managed to keep his Oni mask and hood on was a wonder to the Leaf-nins. Sasuke rushed in for a close, one to one, Taijutsu match now with a faster speed than before. He was confident, with his third leveled Sharingan activated. He could see body movements better, as though they were moving a slow motion. Even the rest of Team 7 looked confident as the same idea dawned upon their minds. Of course they knew Sasuke had to be careful, the ground was now slippery all over thanks to the mud and puddles.

The ANBU leaf-nins kept their eyes on the fight, trying not to blink their eyes as much as possible. The Hokage and Kazekage seemed to be enjoying themselves, Shizune by Tsunade's side while Kankurou by Gaara's side.

Sasuke sent a quick punch with his right hand for the chest, and he could already Naruto dodging it with a turn. Sasuke smirked happily, a punch using the left hand making its way to where Naruto's body would be in a second later. One would see that the captain was moving his body into the path of the Uchiha's punch. The punch was moving, the spectators' had their eyes opened wide. Baki and his students knew what was coming, they all had seen it happen it the preliminaries of the Jounin exam.

Direct hit.

With another confused face, Sasuke violently tumbled and rolled away through the wet earth away from the Jinchuuriki. None of them could believe their eyes, well excluding Gaara and his three ANBU. With Naruto holding out his right arm in an open from under the cloak, Tsunade and the others could already figure out what just happened. Uchiha Sasuke had just been roughly pushed away. He finally skidded and stopped after a few more roles on thw wet grass.

Sasuke coughed a little , after having the air pushed out of his lungs, and slowly got up from the ground. He was totally confused, the Sharingan didn't register any movement coming from under the cloak. He should've seen it coming, but he just didn't. Sasuke turned around to see Kakashi. The Copy Ninja and Sakura looked worried, well Sai just tried to remain passive as possible. Things were looking bad, such thing had never happened before. Even in a Taijutsu match between instructor and student, both Sasuke and Kakashi could at least see the body movements. Dodging it or going on another attack, it was up to the Sharingan wielder's capabilities.

Sakura nervously glanced at her Jounin instructor, "Uhmmmm…Sasuke-kun's going to win. Right Kakashi-sensei?"

"May be," answered Kakashi. He could sense the fear and nervousness of his pink haired kunoichi. "Sasuke will think of something, don't worry. He always does."

"He's probably a genius of the Sand," quoted Sai.

"Where did you find this guy?" asked Shizune as she directed the question towards Kankurou.

However it was his brother, the Kazekage that answered, "From the pits of hell where he was thrown twice into."

Tsunade and the rest of the leaf-nins were wondering what that answer meant.

'_Perhaps he had been forced to endure the Sand ANBU training twice as difficult?'_

Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto didn't mind the weird remark, as they continued looking at their comrade, friend, and leader.

Naruto's right hand slowly retreated back into the wet cloak, now he wasn't the only ninja soaking wet and covered in patches of mud. Sasuke stood up, also wet and covered in mud. Now determined more than ever to bring who ever this Sand captain down. Itachi's brother moved in for another attempt, now throwing blows of punches and kick much how Lee would decimate a tree log. Naruto was dodging, by twist of turns, jumps, or simply bowing down. Frustration slowly grew in Sasuke, as he decided to play dirty.

"Hei, it's like some mud wrestling." Joked Hirami. "Except they're guys."

Practically everyone turned their heads towards Hirami, some with their eyebrows scrunched in disbelief. Even Sasuke and Naruto looked at her disbelievingly.

"What? It was just a joke." Defended Hirami.

Baki didn't look pleased at his student, and looked at Kakashi.

"Your pervert personality isn't by any chance contagious, is it?"

Nobody had asked Hatake Kakashi that question before, but he answered, "No…"

Sasuke brought another kick, while as Naruto further jumped away from the reaches of Sasuke's leg. The leg turned in mid air, and stomped down hard on the mud. Whether it was mud or water, it didn't matter. It had done its job; it had made its way into the eyeholes of the ANBU mask.

"Cheap trick," commented Chiro, Baki's Chuunin student.

Temporarily blinded, Sasuke took the opportunity by mustering his energy into delivering a strong uppercut. His fist made contact with the chin of the Oni mask, and the Jinchuuriki (vessel) was violently sent in mid air. Naruto landed hard on his back, now even dirtier as he lay there in a puddle of mud. Sasuke was breathing heavily; he'd given his best in the Taijutsu. He finally chuckled as the ANBU captain, now with his Oni mask cracked, lay around not moving at all.

"Heh, knocked you damn hard. Didn't I?"

Splash!

The Sand ANBU captain dissolved into water as it splashed into the puddle of water. Sasuke and Kakashi's Sharingan opened wide in disbelief, it was nothing more than clone.

"Mizu Bunshin…..(Water clone)" stuttered Kakashi.

"Ahahahahahaha!" laughed Kisame out loud in content as Naruto had played out his trick using Kisame's own water type Jutsus. In fact, all the water type Jutsus he had ever learned came from Kisame. Well, Kisame didn't teach Naruto every single water type Jutsu he knew, he still kept a lot of them all to himself. But Kisame was wondering if his ANBU captain would show off the other things he learned off under Kisame's teachings.

"He can also perform Water type Jutsu then," Sai stated the obvious.

'Well, duh! Thanks for sharing us the obvious, Brush boy.' as Asami decided to control Kisame a little with a tug on the cloak.

"No way! Sasuke-kun and your Sharingan should have been seen right through it. Right?" demanded Sakura. "You could have known it was a Bunshin straight away!"

"That's what really confusing Sasuke and me at the moment," stated Kakashi seriously. "If it was a Mizu Bunshin, the Sharingan should have been able to see it as a clear water figure molded and controlled by continuous flowing of chakra."

"But both of you didn't." continued Sai.

Kakashi replied, "No. That's what really confusing. It's like that Bunshin was a Kage Bunshin before it finally dispelled. It was totally made by flesh, bones, and blood like a Kage Bunshin, then it just turned into a Water clone."

Things were definitely starting to bother the Leaf-nins. As for Baki's students, they were just beginning to understand how strong their ANBU forces were. Sasuke was looking around, searching the whereabouts of his sparring partner. His third leveled Sharingan detected chakra signature coming from the mound of earth that was once a dragon. Naruto slowly rose from the heap of mud like a zombie from a damp graveyard. (I leave the description to your imaginations for that)

"So he never left the dragon's head, he'd sent out the water clone right from Sasuke's very own Water Jutsu. Clever indeed" complimented Tsunade.

Sasuke's anger and frustration grew more and more, because the famous Uchiha was being toyed around like a kid. He cursed in thought, _'Damn it!'_

As Naruto rose, the water from the heap of mud slowly separated from the particles of dirt and earth. Chakra had filtered away the bits of earth and dirt from the water, and began molding the clear water once more.

"He's leaking chakra into the earth from his feet," pointed out the ANBU with the Byakugan.

Several more Mizu Bunshins rose along side of Naruto, a dozen as Sasuke and the audience finished counting all Sand ANBU captains there stood up straight. Naruto glanced down at the heap of dirt that was now dry. He had practically used every drop of water from the heap.

'**_Now let's not put this thing to waste, shall we?'_** asked Kyuubi in Naruto's head.

Naruto answered back _'You know how I don't like wasting.' _

Sasuke and the rest of the Leaf-nins were startled when several pair of hands burst out from the heap of dirt. It was like some sick movie of zombies rising from the dead Both Kabuto and Kisame smiled, remembering the zombie movie they just watched on T.V right after the snake movie back in the inn.

Under the moonlight, Sakura and the others noticed something peculiar about the other Sand ANBU clones that made their way out of dirt. Their colors. It was a mix of brown and black, including the ANBU masks. All of them came to a conclusion.

"Suna Bunshin (Sand clone)" voiced out Gaara like he could read the Leaf-nins' mind with telepathy. "They're not perfect Suna Bunshin though, there isn't much sand around in the ground. So he's compensating them with the earth and soil."

"Clones huh?" finalized Sasuke. "Sorry, but to me, they're pathetic. Kind of reminds me of some dope I'm waiting to come back. Let's finish this."

Sasuke jumped away a few feet back, making space between him and the clones. Things weren't adding up, both water clones and sand clones were registered as solid flesh and bones in his Sharingan. Hatake Kakashi didn't like how these clones play out at all. Sasuke had a hard time to even lay a touch on a clone.

"Senei Jashuu (Shadow Snake Hand)!" called out Sasuke as over a dozen snakes altogether lashed out from both the Uchiha's sleeves. The snakes were just too long to be compared with the real ones, like garden hoses with their own minds. The cold blooded reptiles either whipped their way on the clones, wrapped some of them hard, while others finally resorted to sink their venomous fangs in the clones. Those clones that were Mizu Bunshin that had been severely lashed would splash away while others would remain stuck in the sand clones.

Naruto, Kisame, Kabuto, Asami, and the rest of the Leaf-nins took note this was Orochimaru's teaching back when he joined Otogakure.

The Sand-nins didn't feel threaten at all as some of the clones just reverted back to their original shape. The Suna Bunshin took out their own kunais and cut off the snakes' head that were still embedded in parts of their bodies.

The real Naruto just played along as one snake had wrapped itself tightly around him. Of course, under the midst of the clones, few would notice the snake's head had been cut off.

"Told you that you won't even lay a finger on him." teased Takagi and Chiro together.

Sasuke shoved away the reminder, and found a Jutsu compatible in taking out a large number of enemies. He'd used the technique numerous times before. Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi recognized the all too familiar chain of seals. Kakashi would now best the moment he saw the first hand seal.

"Chidori (Thousand birds)!" mustered Sasuke as his right hand crackled with chakra. The sound when heard carefully, would remind anyone the chirping and flying of flocks of birds in the sky. The dark sky lightened in a blue as the Chidori gave out electric blue light. Either this was chakra or electric energy converted chakra, the leaf-nins didn't know. What that know is, the Chidori could pierce through anything.

'_Like I haven't seen you use that thing before,'_ teased Kisame and Kabuto silently in their own mind.

Kisame saw the Chidori back when Sasuke attempted to thrust it at Itachi. It was during their mission of retrieving Naruto right after the Chuunin exams. Well Kabuto had just seen it a lot of times while Sasuke trained under Orochimaru.

'Come on, Sasuke-teme. Three whole years, and the only thing new that you've shown me so far is an Earth type Jutsu and one of the snake bastard's techniques?' challenged Naruto in his head.

Sasuke run at his fastest speed possible, and rammed the Chidori through the clones like they were simple, transparent Bunshin clones. Of course, the parts of the clones that were attacked were nothing lethal. He had struck near the shoulders, waist, thighs, and hands of the clones. The wounded clones would drop on the ground, and retreat back to their original forms. Turning into small piles of soil or leaving into nothing more but puddles on the ground.

"Don't worry if I accidentally ram this thing at the real you. Wherever you are hiding behind all of these clones." Played Sasuke as he seemed satisfied that the Jutsu was working perfectly as he expected. "Like I said before, we have the best medic-nins around."

Sasuke didn't hear any protests or warnings coming from either Kage of the elemental countries or from his Jounin instructor. So it didn't really matter to Sasuke that he was using the Chidori. After several more runs, Sasuke was narrowed them down into only three Sand ANBU captains. Just before the Uchiha prodigy continued another step, the clones on the left and right dispelled back under commands. The original Naruto decided that playing such tricks was just getting too lame.

"We're not done yet," said Sasuke in anger. Tsunade, Gaara, and the rest of the ninja could barely what Sasuke had said from a far. The Chidori crackled even louder as more chakra was concentrated into Sasuke's right hand. In half a second, there was a small flicker of purple chakra in the Chidori. Unnoticed to the other shinobis, it managed to catch the attention of all four Sand ANBU, Kakashi, and Tsunade. They all knew what it meant.

It was Orochimaru's Curse Seal.

Even after layers upon layers of seals placed to suppress the effects of the Curse Seal, it some how managed to penetrate through all that. Anger and thirst for power fueled the Seal as if it was a parasite. Even Mitarashi Anko, Orochimaru's ex-student, didn't need all those numerous seals placed on her. But Sasuke had taken Orochimaru's pill and brought the Curse Seal all the way to level two. Things just had to be done; they just didn't know what to do about the Seal.

Tsunade noticed the slight interest that all four Sand ANBU upon the recent event.

She pondered, 'Why the sudden interest?'

"His emotions are getting in the way," stated Sai.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Agreed Kakashi as he took note of his student's words.

"To be baited by the frustration of being played around," continued Sai, "Anger, jealousy, frustration…Emotions are mostly useless."

"Shut up Sai! I won't have you bad mouth Sasuke like that!" warned Sakura as she cracked her fingers. "One more word about Sasuke, I'll punch you."

Sai looked at Kakashi, "See what I mean?"

Everyone could hear the pink kunoichi's voice, even the two ninjas that were sparring off at the moment.

'_Same old arrogant bastard Sasuke, same old hot headed Sakura.'_ Commented Naruto.

'**_Yet you've drastically changed, eh brat?' _**asked Kyuubi **_'Not the same old loud mouth brat you used to be. Leaving this shit hole was the best advice I've ever given to you.'_**

'_Whatever'_ replied back Naruto though he could help feeling happy, smirking under that Oni mask of his.

Sasuke once again sprinted off, with a fully charged Chidori in his hand. Naruto didn't even move or try to perform a Jutsu as Sasuke move closer and closer. The Chidori was aimed right at Naruto's right shoulder, both sparring opponents knew. Naruto left hand shot out from under the cloak, and quickly grasped tightly on the upper wrist of Sasuke.

The Chidori merely crackled a few centimeters from Naruto's shoulder as it had been stopped. It directly died down when Naruto tighten his grip even harder.

Kakashi sighed heavily; the Chidori still had a major flaw even with the addition of the Sharingan. Predicting body movements in dodging the Thousand Birds, the Sharingan would easily solve the flaw. The Fourth Hokage had already pointed the major flaw right on the first glance. If someone could even move faster than the Sharingan could predict, the Sharingan was just as useless. Chakra was heavily concentrated at the hands, yet someone could just grab the hands and render the Chidori useless. That's why neither Tsunade, Kakashi himself, nor the ANBU leaf-nins had interfered or even said a word.

Sakura already knew that when Kakashi had stopped both Naruto and Sasuke when they battled it out on the hospital. By grasping both wrists, the two rivals had been thrown off to a water tank reserve. Back to field, Naruto delivered a hard blow on Sasuke's gut with his other hand, setting the Uchiha down on his knees. Saliva made their way out into the air from Sasuke's mouth as he opened his jaw wide open. Again, he had the air knocked out of him. Naruto had let go of his grip on Sasuke's right hand.

Chiro and Hirami winced a little, imagining how the pain would feel.

"Ouch, that has got to hurt."

Just when everyone thought it was all over, Naruto grabbed a hold on Sasuke's neck. He lifted him up high and threw the Uchiha a few feet away.

"That's enough!" shouted Sakura angrily. She couldn't bear watching her precious Sasuke-kun like that anymore.

The ANBU captain paid no attention as he walked closer towards the sprawled Sasuke.

Even the Sand-nins didn't pay any attention, as they seemed eager what was going to happen next.

"No," simply voiced out Naruto coldly.

Gaara, Kisame, and Kabuto thought that Naruto was getting to excited in the sparring match. Losing him temporarily, every time he was fighting a well good match. An influence of the Kyuubi, the thrill and excitement of a fight. However Asami didn't think such idea, Naruto must have other reasons for such acts.

Besides, he'd promised. Uzumaki Naruto always had kept all his promises.

"I thought I heard Uchiha Sasuke said it's not over till someone gets a wound from the other." Said Kankurou towards Sakura.

"He's right, Sakura…" finished Sasuke as he groggily tried to stand up. "This is far from over. I should've remember."

He had remembered it all. How Itachi had easily blocked Sasuke's Chidori, and beaten him up down to a wall. The memories were crystal clear: he'd remember anything that involved his brother. The last time he'd met his brother, back when he saw Itachi and the swordsman of the Mist, Hoshigaki Kisame came to Konohagakure to take Naruto. Itachi had grabbed Sasuke's right hand with his own, directed the Chidori at the corridor walls of the hotel. How his brother tightened his grasp just once, and sent him kneeling down on the floor. The pain didn't stop there. His brother sent his off to a wall with a kick, and delivered another blow to his gut using his left hand. An elbow to his back, followed by a knee to his chin, and one last blow with his left hand. Uchiha Itachi finally finished him off with a grasp on the neck, and a glimpse of the Magenkyou Sharingan.

"I should've known it was you, Onii-san (brother)" continued Sasuke as he spit on the ground.

"Huh? Your brother?" asked Sakura in curiosity.

Shock rippled through the Leaf-nins as realization dawned on the Leaf-nins' memories. The Leaf ANBU guards took out and unsheathed their katanas. Takagi tried to remember just what was the name of Sasuke's brother. The other three Sand ANBU guards didn't even bother to do a thing.

"Who? The infamous Uchiha Itachi?" asked Baki in confirmation, "That's who you think he is?"

His students and Kankurou tried their best to stifle their laughter. Kankurou finally spoke after regaining his composure.

"Aw man…..that was a good one. Uchiha Itachi…" chuckled the puppet master, "Believe me Hokage-sama, that guy over there is no Uchiha Itachi."

The Godaime Hokage turned her eyes on Gaara, as if waiting for him to have a say in the whole matter.

"What my brother just said is true, Hokage-dono." stated Gaara. "Though even if he was, I'd have to say there's nothing you can do about it."

Tsunade stood quiet, not liking the words she just heard coming from the Kazekage. True, there really was nothing Konoha or any of the leaf-nins could do about it. They couldn't risk breaking the treaty and waging war simply because of one man. The lives that could be lost idly of one man. Yet, this one man was responsible for the deaths of entire clan from Konoha.

"I don't care what they say," spat Sasuke, "I know who my brother is. Your moves, the killing intents, everything…."

'_Then it's obvious that you don't know your own brother,'_ thought up Naruto.

Kyuubi decided to join in the fun**_, 'Most of humans are just plain dumb, I have no idea why these humans here even call him a genius. That just makes them the stupider ones around here.'_**

"That's it! I'm not holding back!" exclaimed Sasuke as loud as voice box would allow him. "Screw the Jounin exams, I can always take it next time! But you!"

Kakashi suddenly poofed behind him, "Sasuke, calm down."

It wasn't a plea or an advice. It was an order. A direct order. All those times both Kakashi and Sakura had tried to help him deal with his life's agenda such as all those counseling sessions, rehabilitations, and all their time together for the past year and a half. It was all coming to this.

_--Begin Flashback--_

"_Tell me Sasuke-kun, why is it your life's ambition, to kill your brother?" wondered Sakura even after she already knew what the answer would be, as she sat next to him on a tree branch._

"_Because he betrayed me, broke the clan's trust, killed my parents and all the other Uchiha. You should know, the Uchiha massacre." answered Sasuke coldly as relieved all those memories._

"_So it was is him, huh?" asked Sakura. "Did he tell you to kill him?"_

"_Yes," answered Sasuke, "Even if he didn't. I would have wanted to myself."_

"_So in a way, you're just following the words of the man that killed your family and clan?" asked Sakura again._

_Sasuke turned o look at Sakura. Surprised by such remark, Kakashi never talked back like this. It was always revenge is not worth it or there will be nothing left for you._

"_Pretty stupid if you ask me," added Sakura, "Let me guess, he even told you to detest him your whole life, live a detested life, and become just like him." _

_The Uchiha couldn't say a word in return, but just kept hearing what his pink haired teammate had o say. _

"_To me, he's just jealous of you. He's the one suffering. He decided to spare your life and let you suffer just as he is. He could have killed you, but he didn't." explained Sakura. "You're just playing his games. Beat him at it with your own. Besides, you want to show just how strong you really are. You don't need to go lust for power like some lunatic. He grew strong here in Konoha. Sometimes I wonder why you even left, going to Orochimaru…."_

_Sasuke wondered everything she just said himself, may be he would do just that. He was startled when Kakashi poofed right beside him._

"_Besides, who would want to help you in rebuilding your clan if you become some power ravaging shinobi like Orochimaru." Teased Kakashi with an Icha Icha book chronicles in his hand. "In the end, if you did kill him. It would be you that had killed the entire Uchiha clan. There would be no one to continue your legacy." _

_--End flashback-- _

"Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei" assured Sasuke after linking several times and realized his mistake. It wasn't always that Sasuke would call him with the suffix –sensei, "I'm not going to kill him. I'm going to beat him. I'm through playing with his games."

Uchiha Sasuke tried to get rid the sore in his joints as he cracked his fingers on both hands. He was stretching a bit, moving his neck here and there. He was surprised when he felt all the aching go away. He turned to see Sakura behind him, smiling at him as she used her own medical Jutsu to heal him a little. Kakashi was just plain happy for him as he stood between the two sparring partners.

"You don't mind, do you?" asked Kakashi. "Just take it was a resting session between rounds."

"I always wondered why do boys always try so hard?" asked Sakura as her hand glowed in green chakra at Sasuke gut. "You, Lee-san, Neji, and Naruto…. Can't wait to see what he's capable of after following Jiraiya-sama."

"May be the dobe will be more of a pervert than he already is," suggested Sasuke. "Reading off the every first edition of any Icha Icha chronicles before they even get to be published."

Sakura giggled in thought.

"Now, now. Sasuke." corrected Kakashi as he patted Sasuke on the shoulders.

Naruto remained silent for a while, and bowed down a little. Kakashi didn't know what to make of that. Heck, even the spectators didn't know what this meant. Kabuto, Asami, and Kisame tried to move from their positions but Naruto stopped them with a raise of a hand. Tsunade could sense a change in the air, and somehow she felt relieved. Shizune just smiled at her, sharing the feeling with her Hokage.

Gaara just watched Naruto as he walked his way to the tree where he was hung twice onto during Kakashi's bell test. He just rested his back on the tree, and tapped the bark with the back of his head thrice. The sound of the river flowing and the numerous stars shining up in the sky like specks of diamonds just made him thought of a new trick. Kyuubi's laughter echoed again in his hand, after managing to hear his thoughts. To Naruto, it was just unfair sometimes. The Kyuubi was able to gain access to his memories, but Naruto couldn't access Kyuubi's. Unless Kyuubi decided to share some memories to him, that is.

Meanwhile, a battle strategy struck the Uchiha's mind as he saw Naruto leaning himself to the tree. He was going for it, no matter what. He'd bet that his brother would survive through the technique he's going to pull later on. It was just going to hurt, not kill him.

The pain, well…let's just say he'll be remembering it for the rest of his life.

Kakashi went back to his place, in between Shizune and Sai. Sakura was just finishing up on Sasuke as she gave a few words, "Just go beat him and come back, will you?"

Naruto heard every word clearly as though he was standing right beside her. Both Naruto and Sasuke took their places once again.

"Let's finish this. Once and for all." stated Sasuke as he unbuttoned an up side down pocket. A small scroll, the size of a fist dropped down upon his waiting hand as the law of gravity made its role. Sasuke activated his Sharingan once more, as he neared the scroll to his mouth, and bite it.

"Heh. Round Two." called out Kankurou happily. "And it's only 9.05 p.m. Temari is going to go mad when we tell that she missed one heck of a match."

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**PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW! **They are heavily appreciated and motivate me to write more for all you readers. Trust me, the more reviews, the faster I update. Hehehehehe. You people must really hate me for putting you guys in another cliffhanger. 

Sorry about this.


	9. Pulling tricks

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.**

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THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I've never received so much in just one chapter. This chapter will conclude the battle between Naruto and Sasuke. By the way, this fiction has a lot of flashbacks! I kind of feel bad for myself for keeping you people wait in too much suspense. But heck, there's going to be more. Hehehehe…..

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The two sparring partners stood once again, as they prepared themselves for the second round. Waiting who would be the first one to make a move. Either the first move would be the advantage of a first assault, or simply giving away a chance of more speculation of the move for the one defending. Sasuke decided to take the initiative.

He had simply made only a seal, one that Naruto easily recognized. He would, concerning he had used it over and over since he stole the Forbidden Scroll from Sandaime (The Third) Sarutobi. The index and middle finger from both hands hold out, held together to form a small cross. Sasuke somehow managed to utter out the name of the technique, even while biting the small scroll.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!"

Explosions blew up everywhere, forming a circle around the two of them. Naruto was completely surrounded by a huge group of Sasuke clones, shadow clones to be exact. But all the Sasuke clones lack the scroll that is in the real Sasuke's mouth. Naruto was mildly surprised; the Uchiha had learned a Forbidden technique.

'Shadow clones, huh? No way would you have learned this technique off from the Forbidden scroll. Kakashi must have taught it to you.' thought Naruto as he assessed his current situation. He gave a one hundred eighty degrees scan, from right to left, from the corners of the vision. The mask tends to narrow the field of his eyesight.

'Kage Bunshin.'

The word played out in all of the Sand-nins' minds as they saw the Leaf trademark Jutsu. For Baki's students, it was their first time seeing such technique. They had heard a lot of things about it, but never actually saw it first hand.

"So these clones are actual flesh and blood?" asked Hirami at her teammate, Takagi.

"Yes." Answered Takagi, "They sweat, get tired, and give out body heat. Practically like the real thing. They say these things have a mind of their own. Simply obeying orders of the original one, or they all share the same mind. I don't know."

'What an annoying move,' thought Kisame boringly.

'Seen it too many times,' thought Asami, 'WAY too many times.'

However, Kabuto was thinking, 'Oh, Sasuke learned Kage Bunshin? Oh well. Should have seen that one coming sooner or later.'

'His clones don't have a scroll in each of their mouths,' thought up Gaara. Of course, with his face expression, few would know he's actually thinking. 'Letting Naruto know where the real Sasuke is.'

The horde of Sasuke moved in, each one pulled out a kunai from their right thighs with their right hands. What sent Naruto curious was that the Sasuke clones from only his right side were coming in for the fight. The rest of them just readied themselves, as though waiting for something. Several possibilities flashed through Naruto's mind. Trying to push him to the other awaiting side? A simple distraction because of the scroll? Waves upon waves of clone attack out to tire him out? Perhaps it was something underneath the underneath?

Naruto decided to parry the attacks, dodging and attacking the Sasuke clones that were coming from his right. A straight punch with his right hand at a clone's gut had already destroyed the shadow clone, and Naruto bended the same right hand as he quickly elbowed another Sasuke straight at the face. None of the Shadow clones managed to touch as he swiftly dodged each attack that the clones threw at him. Naruto bowed down reflexively as he dodged one Sasuke clone that attempted to give a roundhouse kick from the back. The Kyuubi vessel grabbed on to the clone's leg, and swung him like a baseball bat. Most of shadow clones from the first wave poofed out of existence as they collide, and Naruto finished by letting go and threw the Kage Bunshin at another unsuspecting clone.

"Impressive Taijutsu," commented an ANBU. "Not even a scratch or hit."

"This guy over there that you're talking about may be Uchiha Itachi," reminded the ANBU leaf-nin with the raven mask. "An Uchiha who finished the Ninja Academy at the age of 7, tapped the powers of the Sharingan at the age of 8, promoted to Chuunin at the age of 10, Jounin at the age of 12, and joined ANBU at the age of only 13."

Sakura looked slightly worried after hearing the information from the ANBU not too far away from her. Kakashi tried to reassure and calm her down with a happy expression and a pat on the shoulders. She seemed pretty convinced as she continued looking at her precious teammate and prayed for the best.

'Damn, he's not even moving from his place.' cursed Sasuke silently. 'I need to push him further.'

More of the Sasuke clones moved in, this time from the front and back of Naruto. Naruto saw this one coming, and did a back flip over the rest of the Sasuke clones that were readied on his left. He landed perfectly on both feet as his mud covered Sand cloak hit the ground. He held out his right hand out from the under the cloak, and looked like he was staring at the palm of his hand.

'Come on, Sasuke. This is what you call not holding back?' taunted Naruto all to himself and Kyuubi in the recess of his head.

Chakra pulsed and concentrated at the palm of Naruto's right hand as it spun round and round. It was looking like an incomplete stage 2 Rasengan as violent wind blew from the center of his palm. All of the Leaf-nins couldn't believe their eyes as the swirl of wind spiraled in the Sand ANBU captain's hand.

"Rasengan…." recognized Tsunade with awe.

Naruto clenched his fingers altogether into a fist, crushing the imperfect sphere in turn. Gaara, Kankurou, and the rest of the Sand ANBU elites realized what he was going to do the moment he closed his fingers into a fist. The violent wind didn't vanish away as it now began spinning around Naruto's entire right arm. The ANBU guard with the Byakugan knew something was up.

He said, "He's concentrating chakra in his right arm. They're flowing at a fast pace right in the chakra coils in his arm."

Tsunade sighed in disappointment. She thought that she must have really been missing the prankster 'brother' of hers.

'Whatever it is, I won't let you finish It.' thought Sasuke as he realized that he'd been giving time to Naruto to perform a Jutsu.

He ordered all of his clones to rush in towards his so-called brother with no hesitation. The shadow clones at the back jumped outwards towards their target like a tiger pouncing out of a bush. The shadow clones on the front lines that were still on the ground, continued to run with the sharp ninja weapon in their hands. It was like a sudden tsunami wave, an attack from up high and ground below at the same time. No matter how good a Taijutsu the ANBU was, he couldn't possibly take on all clones at once. It wasn't the usual clones waiting in turns to fight him on and on.

Naruto was ready as he rotated to a full spin, with his hand out.

Sakura sworn that she had seen that exact move somewhere. Her memories flashed over her vision as a Temari image overlapped Naruto in a stance that she would use every time blowing with her battle fan.

The effects were just that.

All of the Sasuke clones didn't see that one coming. Violent winds gushed out and blew from where Naruto stood as it struck down on the Uchiha clones. Every single one of them was blown up high into the air. Well those that already jumped into the air were blown off even higher then the rest. As they were carried of by the gust, their skins began to begin to bleed as cuts opened up like countless invisible kunais had struck them. All of the Shadow clones poofed out of existence before they could even hit the ground. The trees not too far behind them, those that surrounded the entire Team 7 training grounds, suffered several cuts on the bark and branches.

Sasuke, whom ran out of the gust of wind's path the moment he saw his clones flying, was now panting heavily as he crouched down, hiding behind a tree. He had managed to seek protection at the very last minute. The very tree he saw Naruto got hung to during his bell test. He came to a conclusion as he tried to catch his breath, 'A Fuuton (Wind Element) Jutsu.'

"SUGOII! (Incredible)" exclaimed Hirami out loud in content. "He performed a Kamaitachi without even using a battle fan!"

Her eyes twinkled with stars in admiration towards the Sand's ANBU captain. He was far beyond cool in her opinion. Her teammates, Takagi and Chiro, couldn't express such feat any better. They just stood there among the spectators, just trying to comprehend the technique performed right before their eyes. A Kamaitachi, done with no aid of a battle fan whatsoever.

"Heh," puffed out Kankurou. He remembered seeing Naruto perform his first Kamaitachi back in Suna. 'He sure pissed off Temari back then when he learned that technique down in just only two days. TWO DAYS. Temari tried to play him off a bit, purposely not telling him that he needed a battle fan to perform such technique. She didn't stop ranting and sulking for a whole week after he pulled it off.'

Kakashi and the ANBU with the Byakugan (I'll just write him wearing an owl ANBU mask) saw the blue chakra induced in the wind that was blown by the Sand ANBU guard.

Naruto surveyed the landscape, and could already sense Sasuke hiding behind the tree. Either it was because of his ragged breathing or quick heartbeat, he didn't care. He didn't want to depend too much on his acute senses. This was an all out battle between him and Sasuke; he'd fight this on fair grounds. Sasuke wasn't using the Curse Seal, so Naruto didn't want to tap into the Kyuubi enhanced senses or even the demon fox's chakra. Besides, it would blow his cover if he did. The Kyuubi vessel knew he was right behind there, no questions asked. He slowly walked towards the tree, unknown what Sasuke had in store for him.

'That's right, Onii-san, just walk right in.' chanted Sasuke in his thoughts. He was dead serious, no more fooling around.

Naruto walked step-by-step, getting closer and closer until he just stopped a few feet away. Waiting for Sasuke to make the next move, Naruto charged up his hand with swirling winds of chakra once again. Sasuke thought that it was now or never, the outcome of lifetime hatred between the two Uchiha siblings would be settled right here, right now.

'Guess this is as close as it gets.' noted Sasuke to himself. He's eyes could sense the intense chakra flow from behind the tree. The Uchiha rolled out from behind the tree as

another whirlwind of Kamaitachi struck the tree. Again, managing to dodge the attack, he crouched down on the ground with his Sharingan eyes locked on the Sand ANBU captain. He had managed to make a large distance from him and Naruto. Sasuke dropped the scroll onto the ground as both hands opened the scroll out wide horizontally like a red carpet in front of him. His right hand hovered right above the surface of the paper, already waiting for something to pop out.

"BOOM!"

(I'm not good with sound effects, okay? The might sound corny like some comic, just bear with it okay?)

A large smoke explosion had blasted right from the scroll, obscuring Naruto's view from seeing his sparring opponent. The smoke was definitely too much, it kind of remembered Naruto of Konohamaru's mistake in adding too much gunpowder to his smoke bombs. Naruto, Asami, Kabuto, and Kisame already had their eyes looking up in the air. The rest of the spectators just realized what they're looking at as they followed suit.

Uchiha Sasuke was high up in the air, with something large in his hands. It looked like a blade of some sort, but Naruto recognized it in an instance.

"Fuuma Shuriken," said Sasuke as the blade slowly opened up to a large four pointed, aerodynamically designed Shuriken, the Evil wind Shuriken Shadow windmill.

He mustered all the necessary strength needed as he threw the large Shuriken right at Naruto. It spins at an incredible velocity, far much faster then he threw one at Momochi Zabuza on his first C ranked mission. It was a little challenging as the black shuriken sailed in the air at night. Naruto was expecting the large projectile to split in two in the half run towards him. The Sand ANBU captain was taken by surprised when the Fuuma Shuriken just blew up into another black smoke right when the shuriken was supposed to split in two.

All his senses suddenly spiked up to its full capabilities, though still not assisted by Kyuubi, when he knew had to somehow expect something new. His ears could hear the whirling metals cutting through the air, while his nose picked off the minuet odor of cold hard iron in the air. Naruto saw several shadowy figures burst out from the cloud of smoke, and he began counting them off.

'Four…five...no…six Fuuma Shurikens,' finished Naruto as his eyes turned to every one of them in a blur.

'This should prove to be entertaining….' mused Kyuubi as the demon fox laid back in Naruto's body, enjoying the first point view of the fight.

Two of them tried to hit him at the same time, one from the right while another from the left. The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki had to perform a back flip as he easily dodged the two Fuuma Shuriken. Just when he was in mid air, another one made its way straight at his chest. Naruto whipped out a Kamaitachi in haste as he blew that one up with his left hand in to the starry night sky.

The spectators aside from the battlefield watched on, Sasuke was pulling out the best Uchiha techniques that the clan was famous for. The genius usage of Shinobi projectiles, and they were still waiting for the great Katon Jutsus that the Uchiha specialized in.

Naruto landed on his feet and palm of his hands, crouched down like a fox that was ready to pounce. He heard the three Fuuma Shuriken he had encountered earlier hit the ground, and was already waiting for the other three. He noticed Sasuke was falling, with all ten fingers stretched out apart much like frog's. The three Fuuma Shurikens were still cutting through the night sky, bending and making turns like a group of vultures. Naruto could barely see the flashes of the moonlight in a thin line in the air making out from his fingers. The ANBU captain then realized what it was .

'Wires….?' thought up Naruto curiously.

Sasuke was controlling all of them using the thin wires from his fingers like a puppeteer. Uzumaki Naruto then saw the large Fuuma Shurikens diving down towards him as Sasuke bit the wires from his fingers. Sasuke steered the first and third Shuriken as he tugged the wires up with his teeth. The Sand ANBU captain saw one coming from his right, one from his left side of his back, and the last one from the right side of his back. He was like standing in the center on a triangle, where all three Fuuma Shurikens were coming from each corner.

Naruto performed a few hand seals under his cloak as slammed both palms hard on the grass. Suddenly got air raised from the ground, blowing his dirty cloak upwards and his hood fluttered violently. Yet the hood never fell back, he wasn't worried that the Leaf-nin spectators would see his bright yellow blonde hair at all. It was already dark, and the gust of wind was obscuring his whole body from view. The harsh cold winds that raised from the air were twirling like a small typhoon, Naruto in its eye, rebounding off all three Shurikens as they were blown off.

"You show him, Sasuke-kun." cheered on Sakura was she saw the last attempts of the shurikens fail before her eyes. He wasn't going to give up, and neither was she going to stop cheering him on.

Meanwhile, the three ANBU members of the Sand were watching on without the slightest of worry in their minds or heart.

'You've come a long way, Naruto.' Thought Asami as she watched her lover fight on. He never worried her if he was ever going to lose a fight or his life. 'A long way….'

_--Begin Flashback--_

"_So you must be the Kyuubi vessel everyone's been talking about." said Asami as she gave a looked at Naruto for the first time._

_Naruto just laid sprawled on the cold cave floor, breathing heavily with only his orange pants and shinobi boots on. He had just received his first dose of the seal lunatic Sakai's seal a few minutes ago, and was still recovering. The Kyuubi vessel slowly turned on his back, and crawled his way to the corner of his prison. He rested his back on the cave walls, paying no attention whatsoever to the girl that crouched outside the prison bars. _

"_Not what I expected, you look really weak. I bet I can kick your butt without even breaking a sweat." smiled Asami as she continued on looking at Naruto. _

_Naruto gave a look at Asami, but didn't say anything. He only talked to Kyuubi, 'Great…another pretty looking kunoichi. Just when things couldn't get any worse.'_

_The fox demon laughed to his heart's content. _

'_They all look good on the outside, but she's probably just like the others. Just like bitchy Sakura and the rest of those stupid villagers. How I hate people….' continued on Naruto as he looked intently at Asami. The kunoichi didn't know what he was thinking._

'_And you ask me why I go destroying and rampaging human civilizations.' Added Kyuubi as the demon recovered from its laughter. _

_Asami searched her pockets for a few seconds, and finally found what she was looking for. She pulled out a necklace with a small rectangular, green precious stone hanging in between two small, white pearls. She dangled it in her right hand, in between the prison bars as she showed it at Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto was a little angry with himself, not being able to protect his only treasure of his few precious people. He had already his headband that Iruka had given to him. He didn't value it as symbol of Konohagakure and how he was related to it. It was more of treasured item passed down to him._

"_This is yours right?" asked Asami. The necklace swung back and forth in her hand like a pendulum._

_The daughter of Raetsu teased Naruto, "Never thought a boy, a shinobi of all sorts, would accessorize himself with jewelry. It really looks pretty and expensive, good taste for a boy. You sure you're not a girl?"_

_She laughed as Naruto continued looking at her, probably cursing in his mind. She was surprised when Naruto flashed a foxy grin from under the shadows._

"_Look who's talking, -pant- a group of scary S-Ranked missing-nins decorating themselves by wearing -pant- a golden ring." replied Naruto happily. He stopped as he took another deep breath. He was still breathing hard, and continued on, "Let's not forget the clear purple nail polish that each one of them have on their fingers. And those dorky fashion hats and robes." _

_Asami didn't know what to say, as the Kyuubi vessel was having his turn of laughing at her. She was some how angry, and thought hard upon Naruto's comment. She took Naruto by surprise as she laughed along side him after a few seconds later. She was laughing just as hard, unknown to her that Kyuubi was laughing at her in Naruto's head._

_Her laughter slowly died down, long after Naruto had stopped._

"_I never thought of it that way…you got me there." chuckled Asami with the necklace still in her hands. _

_Naruto was puzzled by the girl's behavior. She put away the necklace back in her pocket as she slowly got up from the floor. She still had her eyes on Naruto the whole time, and finally turned as she took the resting torch out from its handle in the cave wall. She made her way to the exit, and stopped just as she was going to leave. _

"_You know what? You're really interesting--" bade Asami with a seductive smile, "for such a weakling."_

_The blazing red haired kunoichi finally left as she stepped out from the prison chambers, and made her way down back to her father._

'_**I think she likes you…'** teased the Nine Tailed demon fox followed after another laugh._

_Kyuubi was like laughing most of the time now, Naruto thought that the Bijou was finally going mad after being imprisoned for twelve and half years in total darkness. Much in his own current status at the moment. He was starting to think about himself, was he really that interesting? He already heard that from Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the Kyuubi himself. _

'_Whatever…'_

_Fast forward (We're still in flashback, people)_

_Uzumaki Naruto skidded off the ground after being violently blown away by a harsh blizzard. This was the third time. He was still only wearing only his worn out pants and shinobi boots. There were blisters and cuts over his back, but it healed in a second flat. The Kyuubi vessel just had his third trial run on a B-Ranked Hyouton (Ice type) Jutsu. Raetsu wasn't pleased with the result, and had struck him with a blizzard. Naruto was shivering as he just sat on the ground, looking at his current mentors that stood tall in front of him. He would have died from frostbite if it weren't Kyuubi. Failing to perform the necessary basics had already brought chill down to his bones. Well, the demon fox was just idly sitting comfortably with his head resting on his front paw. _

_Raetsu had a serious look on his face, radiating a power and cold air like he was some sort of refrigerator at the moment. He didn't look pleased with what just happened. The three of them were in Naruto's mindscape, an altered one. The place was a never-ending horizon of grassy plain and blue sky. Everything would seem perfect except for the few huge craters, icicle shards protruding out of the ground like trees, and a blanket of snow covering a few places here and there._

_Naruto really hated all this constant non-stop training. Even in his own mind, he could feel every single pain administered to his body. Learning from a bijou and three Akatsuki members definitely taught him a whole new meaning to the word 'Pain'. Kyuubi told him that it was the only way he could let the mind training affect his body. The fox explained that it was much like the reverse of how the five senses work. How sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch relays from the body parts, travel through the body via neurons and spinal cord (Naruto had no idea what they meant until they beat him to it), and goes to the brain. Well, the training in his mind somehow causes his brain to send messages to the parts of his body, and causing them to change at a fast pace. _

"_Get up." ordered Raetsu as Naruto slowly got up. "Again."_

_Just when Naruto started to perform the first hand seal, the three of them saw Asami suddenly walked out from thin air. The kunoichi seemed to be enjoying herself, watching Naruto working his ass off. She made her way to her father, and finally delivered the message._

"_Otou-san, Raiha is calling you for another mission." said Asami after a bow of respect. _

_Raetsu looked past his daughter, right at Naruto. Now he had to go on a mission, leaving the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki all alone with the fox demon and his daughter. He could bring her with him on his mission like he always did, however it was for the best to have her to have a look on things while he was away. Itachi and Kisame had their missions to handle and Naruto would once again continue his studies with his Bijou. It was what he had expected; none of them were having regular turns in teaching as planned before. It was all messed up; one would just teach when they had the opportunity. So far, Kisame and Itachi had been teaching theirs quite fairly, Kyuubi as well since he had the most time. But Raetsu had a lot in mind to teach the boy, yet he just never had the time. _

"_Asami, looks like you'll have to teach Naruto while I'm away." sighed Raetsu as he looked intently at Asami. _

"_I get teach him…?" asked Asami who somehow seemed that she couldn't believe what she just heard. She looked back at Naruto who was lying down flat on the grassy plain._

"_This is going to be fun…."_

"_Fun, huh? You can teach him any Hyouton Jutsu you want. But just don't waste his time trying to teach him things that he couldn't possibly learn. Kyuubi-" Raetsu stopped as he gave a glance at the gigantic fox. "Kyuubi-sama wouldn't want any time wasted. It's better to teach him a few A-Ranked Jutsus than spending too much time just letting him to understand the basics of a S-Ranked Jutsu."_

"_Sure." replied Asami. She already had a few Jutsus lined up for Naruto to learn. "I know just the perfect techniques."_

_Raetsu disappeared in front of her eyes in the blink of eye, already returning back to his body. Asami had a mischievous grin as she turned her attention at the blonde ninja whom slowly raised himself to a sitting position. _

"_Come on, get up." called on Asami. _

"_So what now?" asked Naruto._

"_Like my father said, I'll be teaching you until either Itachi or Kisame returns from their mission." answered Asami in a bossy stance. Her right hand on her waist while her left was just beside her hip._

"_Great…just great." complained Naruto as his face gave out a bored expression. _

_His eyes widen in surprise when several ice crystal kunais zoomed their way towards his face. Suddenly his hand whipped out a simple katana from out of nowhere, and began deflecting off every single ice projectile._

"_Looks like Kisame is doing a good job in teaching you." commented Asami as she watched her crystal clear kunais fall down to the ground._

"_Yeah, and there's a lot where that came from." bragged Naruto with his foxy grin as he pointed out the edge of the sword at her._

"_Don't get too cocky," said Asami._

"_**Enough fooling around. Start teaching…I mean torturing him already."** interrupted Kyuubi as he lashed out his tails into the air._

"_That didn't come out right," commented Naruto._

"_**No, it came out perfectly fine. Just how I wanted to."** thought of the nine-tailed demon fox. **"Now shut up, brat! Pay attention!"**_

"_I'm going to teach you some A-Ranked Hyouton Jutsus." started off Asami. She paused for a second and gave a seductive smile. "Let's make this more fun. The wager is the necklace. If you can master each Jutsu in just under four days, I'll give you back the necklace." _

"_If I don't?" asked Naruto curiously._

"_I get to keep it. No chance of getting it back. Even if you'd follow me around for the rest of your life after all of this is over," answered Asami with a glee. "Deal?"_

"_Deal," confirmed Naruto. He now had his determined face, and the Kyuubi couldn't help be entertained by such agreement. It was like the gamble of the necklace with Tsunade all over again._

_Raetsu's daughter then held out her right hand and pointed it at Naruto looked at it. _

"_This Jutsu doesn't require hand seals, so you don't have to worry about Itachi copying it. But I bet you its far more than difficult than you're Rasengan. Here's the first one."_

_With that, Asami flicked her thumb and middle finger together. In a flash, Naruto could barely sense the sudden outburst of chakra from her fingers._

_She only whispered a single word, "Freeze," _

_--End Flashback--_

The typhoon that had been blowing around Naruto died down as the final three Fuuma Shurikens were deflected back to the ground. The Sand ANBU captain could already see Sasuke standing there, with his hands just hanging to rest. The Uchiha had let go off the wires when he saw Naruto slammed his palms on the ground. At such speed, the rebounded Fuuma Shurikens would have pulled the wires and cut or pulled his fingers off.

"Don't think its over yet," smiled Sasuke as he just jumped away several feet more.

The moment he landed on the green grass, five of the Fuuma Shurikens that was stuck on the ground exploded into smoke like a smoke bomb. Naruto gave a full three hundred sixty degrees of view as he turned around a complete spin. Looking at every clearing smoke, he finally ended back where he started, where Uchiha Sasuke was standing.

Naruto was standing the middle of it all: five out the six shurikens had landed all around him.

'Show me, Sasuke-teme (bastard)' chanted Naruto, 'Show me what you got.'

The smoke cleared as a cold breeze of the night blew it away, revealing all of them to be more Sasuke shadow clones. All of them had something in both of their hands, including the real Sasuke. Then, in perfect synchronization, all six of them threw four shurikens right at him. The shurikens were tied by wires to each of their hands like the Fuuma Shuriken, and turned around as they were steered. The flying projectiles had turned and wrapped Naruto up, as he bounded tight in the middle. He looked like he was a bull that had been lassoed by surrounding cowboys.

Naruto tried to move, but to no avail. All six Sasuke pulled the wires away as the wires began to tighten their captive even further. They raised their right leg and stomped down hard on the wires into a lock. The sudden strain caused Naruto to bent down on his knees, with hands bound at the thighs. Uzumaki Naruto couldn't even twitch his fingers, and he was knelt down on the ground.

"This ends here, Onii-san." said Sasuke adjusted the wires for his hands to be free. So he could start making a few hand seals. "I know this is not going to kill you. But the pain and burn marks will forever remind you of what you did for the rest of your life."

Naruto once again tried to move, but to no avail. He could even move his fingers, let alone perform hand seal.

'So he's going use that Katon again huh?' thought Naruto even under such predicament. 'Things have been a little entertaining, teme. Guess I'll get serious too.'

'How are you going to escape out of this one, Naruto?' asked Gaara as though expecting Naruto to hear his thoughts.

Tsunade expected that Gaara was going to intervene and end the whole match right about now. Before Sasuke could even finish his chain of hand seals. But it never came. She was intrigued that all the Sand-nins remained calm yet excited in the same time. They had a look of pure confidence on their faces, knowing no matter what that their Sand ANBU captain was going to escape unharmed.

'What trick will you pull out now?' questioned Kisame under his mask in excitement.

'I've never seen you in such predicament, Naruto.' Smiled Kabuto under the red decorated cat ANBU mask.

Asami smiled even wider, 'You show them, Naruto. Show the power you've rightfully earned.'

"Come on, come on, come…" chanted Hirami full heartedly. Baki and his other two students just looked serious than ever.

Tsunade turned her head from the Sand ANBU elites, only to hear her shinobi call out the punishment.

"Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu! (Fire Element: Dragon Flame Technique.)"

There it was, the fire elemental Ninjutsu that could be performed by all Uchiha clan elites. Every Leaf-nin knew that it was that it was the second strongest Katon technique right after the Karyuu Endan (Fire Dragon Combo), which was performed by Sandaime Hokage (the Third). Chakra was fully concentrated in the Uchiha's mouth, then converted into fire, and letting it all shoot out in a long jet of flames.

A large jet stream of flame blew out; burn its way fast on the wires like it was covered in gasoline towards Naruto. The sudden bursts of flame totally lighten the dark atmosphere, causing their spectators to close and shield their eyes away. Their eyes hurt a little from the flash of light, as it adjusted to the sudden light intensity. When the flames finally touched Naruto's dirty cloak, the Sand ANBU captain exploded right in that spot like a match falling into a barrel of gunpowder. The spectators heard it clear after shielding their eyes, but Sasuke still keep both eyes on the burning mass.

The fire crackled as it began burning off, specks of burning matter blew up to the sky probably from the warm rising air or cold night breeze.

"I know you're not dead Onii-san! Orochimaru didn't die from this technique!" shouted Sasuke as he watched the fire burn on. "I knew you're by far much stronger than him! He fled from Akatsuki because of you!"

Sasuke didn't want to kill his brother, but he at least want to hear him shout out loud in pain. Even Orochimaru shouted when he was burned back when Sasuke performed the technique in the Forest of Death.

He just wanted to hear him cry in pain, much how he'd been through ever since Uchiha massacre.

Kakashi gave a look at Kisame and the other two Sand ANBU elites. Kisame noticed the attention, and looked back at the man of the Thousand Jutsus. He just gave a wave of hello as he turned back to watch the fight continue on. Sakura was the only Leaf-nin that didn't notice the slight gesture, and the rest of the Leaf-nins seemed troubled.

'What does this all mean?' thought Kakashi, Tsunade and Shizune. Question popped up in their minds. 'Was this an infiltration in Suna, and get their hands on Shukaku that was sealed in Gaara? But the Sand was fully aware of the existence of Akatsuki…Or something already happened in Akatsuki? What about Naruto and Jiraiya?'

Sasuke performed another once again, "Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

And again, the fire traveled down the fire from his hands towards Naruto. Again. Naruto burst into flames once more. The fires now crackling ever louder and bigger as another jet of flames were added. All the spectators watched on, as though it was a celebration where it was a huge open fire. The majestic fire entranced Baki's students not too far for them. All of them thought that they saw the burning figure move, but it was really nothing. It dropped face first onto the black, burned ash ground like it was dead. Sasuke and the five shadow clones looked at it, expecting it to move more. But it never came.

Then the all-usual annoying sound entered his ears.

POOF!

The smoke that erupted out from the figure had cleared away, revealing nothing more than a badly burned ashen log.

"IMPOSSIBLE! THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY!" cursed Sakura out loud in reaction.

The rest of the spectators were too busy to even think about the pink haired kunoichi's choice of words. They were too busy trying to think how in the world had the Sand ANBU captain had pulled out a kawarimi (replacement) right before their eyes. Of course, ninja could perform and replace a kawarimi in their place. That is if they could even move. But Naruto couldn't even move an inch at all. Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto thought a few possibilities like that thing were nothing more than another clone or something.

"Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-sensei, how's that even possible!" asked Sakura in disbelief. She turned to her teachers and demanded an answer or explanation. "He was long tied down, there's no way he could have moved away and left a kawarimi in his place. Even Orochimaru couldn't escape back when we encountered him in the forest death."

All the Konoha shinobi agreed with her, there was no possible way. The Sand Chuunins looked at Baki, waiting for an answer or explanation on what had happened.

They didn't have the time as a few bubbles raised and burst at the surface of the river. Sasuke looked between the burning log, and the river. He noticed a hole on the ground where the log had stood, and thought that the Sand ANBU captain had used a Doton (Earth type) Jutsu. More bubbles rose to the surface of the water, and the brother of Uchiha Itachi expected an attack coming. Naruto jumped out of the river and landed a few feet right away from Sasuke. Asami, Kabuto, and Kisame thought that they've never seen their captain and friend in such condition.

Uzumaki Naruto was now soaking wet, most of his clothes were burned to a coal black color in, and the edges of his cloak and sleeves were singed. His Oni mask had melted badly, revealing a little skin of the forehead and left eye. Sakura and Sasuke instantly remembered him as Orochimaru right after the attack in the Forest of Death. Sasuke could feel a cold killing intent slowly radiating itself from the really pissed ANBU captain. There were probably scorch marks all over his skin, as they heard a hiss of pain coming from him.

Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto thought that this couldn't be the Kyuubi vessel. They've never seen him like this. Well, Asami and Kisame thought that it was last time they'll see him like this ever since his Akatsuki training. Sure, he's probably telling Kyuubi not to heal his injuries so that he wouldn't have his cover blown. He just couldn't be. Right?

"When you play with fire, you're going to get burned. Didn't your mother ever teach you that?" taunted Sakura. She didn't care if this person was Sasuke's brother or not.

She sensed the killing intent, but it wasn't only coming from the Sand ANBU captain alone. It was coming right next to her. She, along the rest of the Leaf-nins, turned to the direction where the killing intent was coming from. It was coming from the Sand-nins.

It was really something, coming from them.

Asami, Kisame, Kabuto, and even Gaara were looking right at her. Kankurou just looked disgusted and pissed upon her words, but with the Kabuki face paint, it had added an extra effect. Gaara was glaring at her, with the scary eyes that he used to have three years ago back in the Chuunin exam. She swore that she saw his eyes flicker in yellow or was it a trick of the eyes reflecting the still burning fire. She couldn't fully describe the killing intents coming from the three.

In short, it was inhumane. A predatory glare coming from all three, Asami's was a cold one, Kisame's was an animalistic one, yet Kabuto had the death glare that would rival even Orochimaru in her opinion. Sasuke was distracted by the coming sense of hatred, while Naruto side glanced from the only remaining eyehole on his Oni mask.

"Stop it."

All the spectators were startled by the simple words, they was coming from the Sand ANBU. The killing intents slowly died down from the side of the Sand, but now the Sand Elites and their Kazekage gave out a feeling of frustration at him. He was playing around too much, WAY too much. He'd never play around except only with Asami, Kabuto, Kisame, and the Sand siblings. Naruto just giggled in heart. Sasuke took the opportunity to unbutton another upside down pocket of his Chuunin vest. Another small white scroll dropped into his awaiting hands. Sasuke was down to a third of his chakra capacity, and he was just to muster most of them into this Jutsu.

"I must say, Kakashi, I'm really impressed with that student of yours. Uchiha Sasuke has developed a lot of stamina and increased his chakra capacity greatly over the following years." praised Tsunade at the Jounin instructor.

"I'm quite surprised myself." replied Kakashi happily. "He had managed to perform the Suiryuudan, Daibakufu, the Seirei Jashuu, TWO Chidori, a mass number of Kage Bunshin, and two Ryuuka."

"And he still has the chakra and stamina to fight on." added Sakura in support of her teammate. "Sasuke-kun was all tired out after performing a single Ryuuka no Jutsu back in the Forest of Death."

Sai, however, decided to be the one that spoils the mood, "Still, he's starting too tire out. That ANBU captain over there isn't even breaking a sweat."

Sakura, Kakashi, Tsunade, and even some of the ANBU Konoha shinobi didn't seem pleased with what he just said. All in all, even the shinobis of Suna had to agree with Kakashi and Tsunade. The precious Uchiha had stamina and the large chakra capacity.

But compared to Kisame's own, he'd been far outmatched in every way. Let alone compare to what the Kyuubi vessel had developed over time. Naruto's chakra alone was already higher than Kisame's chakra, even if the ex-Swordsman of the Mist had converted his stamina into chakra.

Uchiha Sasuke opened up the scroll like the previous one, and laid it open on the ground. The Uchiha prodigy then bit his right thumb efficiently as it was now bleeding out from the small bite. It was as though Sasuke had done it over a hundred times over and over and got it down perfectly. He then used raised his left sleeve all the way to his elbow, revealing a black snake tattoo around his arm. Naruto knew what was Sasuke had in his mind the moment he bit his thumb. Sasuke slide his bleeding thumb across the open scroll, leaving a long trail of blood on it. The paper instantly rolled back into the scroll, and Uchiha Sasuke grabbed it into his left hand.

It was going to be a Kuchiyose no Jutsu (summoning technique).

"Call out your clones if you want." challenged Sasuke. "It wouldn't make a difference."

'I already did,' replied Naruto to Kyuubi. The Nine tailed Demon Fox was really enjoying this, and he had the front seat unlike the Leaf-nins and Sand-nins.

More and more Sand ANBU captains raised out of the ground like zombies, while more jumped out of river. It was a mixture of the original Naruto hidden with dozens and dozens of mixed Suna Bunshin (Sand clone) and Mizu Bunshin (Water clone). Sasuke didn't seem to care even a single one of them.

"I don't know how you are able to trick the Sharingan, Onii-san." Stated Sasuke in serious manner. "Probably you've managed to master everything there is about the Sharingan. But I've realized something. You…"

Naruto was interested what he had to say, thinking that he actually knew everything like he always did. He just waited, already hearing and hiding from his spot in the whole training area of Team 7.

"You're too dependent on that Sharingan of yours!" shouted Sasuke.

Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto were slightly confused upon the Uchiha's statement. Kakashi, Sakura, and Tsunade looked proud and smug as they heard Sasuke move in for the technique. Uchiha Sasuke then slid his bleeding thumb on the snake tattoo on his left arm, and slammed both hands with the scroll under it to the ground. Naruto saw the intricate lines of seals spreading out of the scroll and into the ground.

"Doton: Doton Tsuiga no Jutsu (Earth Element: Earth Tracking Fang Technique)!"

Naruto had never know about this being Kakashi's technique, let alone see it first hand. It was his first time, an earth type Jutsu utilizing summonings. He was even more curious what the technique would do to him, after hearing the name of the technique. He sensed chakra and something else in the ground, a lot of them, spreading underground. It was quickly making its way towards the Sand ANBU captain. Naruto tried to jump up into the air, but there was sudden cracking and soon something burst out from the under the grass and soil.

It was a snake.

More specifically, it was a pit viper with black and brown scales covering its head and entire body. It quickly wrapped around Naruto's left leg and finally locked into its victim by sinking both of its fangs right into the Sand ANBU captain's knee. Naruto fell down hard, while another snake burst out from the ground as it wrapped the other leg. This time, it was a larger snake, an adder with cocoa brown scales on the back. It did the same thing, biting the other joint of the leg with its long fangs. Naruto heard louder explosions coming behind him, and turned his head as much as he could to see three more snakes coming right at him.

The largest one was an anaconda as it wrapped around Naruto's body twice and gave a huge bite on his right shoulder. A boa constrictor snaked its way around Naruto's left hand, and bit hard on the wrist. The same thing happened at Naruto's right, except it was a golden brown python. All five reptiles tightened themselves around their captive, rendering him immobile. Baki's students winced and were irked as they saw the snakes adjusting themselves to a more comfortable position, as hissing sounds broke the silence of the night. The spectators could see the glowing yellow of the snakes from a far. The sand clones and water clones dissolved away into the ground.

"Don't tell me, you helped him with that?" asked Tsunade.

Kakashi answered, "Yeah, I did. We kind of had to make alterations to it since the technique was actually my own Ninjutsu. But the name still applies, whether its snake fangs or dog fangs. I never copied it with my Sharingan."

"So that's what you two have been doing for the past week?" asked Sakura with a slight tinge of anger. "You let me and Sai do errands and simple C and B-Ranked missions all by ourselves. You could've just told us."

Sai didn't seem to care at all, but being the usual critic he is, he decided to talk. "It's still kind of slow. The snakes I mean. If the first one didn't catch the leg, he would've gotten away."

"I know." replied Kakashi. "But that technique is more of an element of surprise type. May be when you could sneak behind the enemy."

'Terrific.' mumbled Kisame in boredom. 'First it's Kage Bunshin. Now snakes. What's next? Finger puppets?'

The tallest Sand ANBU elite looked at Kankurou, thinking of all those puppets he had shown off back in Suna. It was fun watching them, but even better when he got to pester him about boys playing off with dolls.

'You have never played this much, Naruto.' thought off Asami in frustration. 'Two Jutsus already, you're just so….Aaaaargh! When I get my hands on you…this can't be you!'

Sasuke was now tired; he had exerted himself to the point of exhaustion. He slowly walked his way towards his snake stricken sparring partner. He was happy with himself, he'd managed take down his brother whom he had so hated and despised.

"Looks like I win, Onii-san." smirked Sasuke as he stood face to face with the ANBU captain. "You're lucky that I didn't order the two poisonous snakes that are currently wrapping your feet to let their venom enter your blood stream. It hurts? Doesn't it?"

The Sand ANBU captain remained silent, but a slight wince and curse could be heard. Having fangs embedded in his wrist and knees, Sasuke was already satisfied with the pain that he's brother feeling at the moment.

"This is nothing compared to the pain you've put me through after all these years." continued on Sasuke as he tried to achieve eye-to-eye contact. There were burn marks all over the revealed skin where the patches of clothes had been burned off. "I guess you're probably wondering how these snakes managed to find you behind all those clones, right?"

Naruto just remained silent. 'Guess this is where he gloats like he always do.'

Kyuubi couldn't help but tease, 'Want me to tell you the exact words he said back when he gloated and discovered the human mind trick, or Genjutsu as you call it, back in the Chuunin exam? Walking through some silly door, peh! Clearly a stupid way to test your wits."

"If you had performed a Kage Bunshin, may be you would have some chance. All of all clones that you know by copying with the aid of the Sharingan, you had to make Mizu Bunshin and Suna Bunshin. True, you managed to trick my Sharingan by the chakra flowing in each one. But all in all, you're the only one that's giving off body heat how a human would. These clones have their own body heat thanks to the chakra, but that sand or water are still the same; they're not real blood and living cells."

Sakura and the rest of the Konoha shinobi were happy for him. He'd finally managed and proved that he was over his revenge, and at the same time out wit one of the genius Uchiha to ever been born in Konoha. Well except of Tsunade.

She looked at the Sand-nins, and felt something was wrong judging from the calm behavior coming from Gaara, Kankurou, Baki, and the ANBU elites. Takagi, Chiro, and Hirami looked upset and angry. Her suspicions were proven where she heard a chuckle and quickly turned her attention back to the two sparring Ninjas. The Sand ANBU captain was shivering, the chuckling grew louder and louder every second. He was laughing when looked into the Sharingan of Uchiha Sasuke. Something was off. It could already be seen with the help of the fire that's still burning the kawarimi log.

The color of the Sand ANBU captain was now transparent.

How a typical Mizu Bunshin would be seen under the Sharingan.

Clear water in the shape of a human being, with electric blue chakra flowing within the human water figure. But then, the water changed color again. Blood vessels, organs, and vessels slowly appeared over the chakra pathways. (Picture this like a man turning invisible but you can see his muscles and veins before he completely turns invisible. Kind of sick when I think about it.) Skin finally covered over the skin, and there were the clothes over the skin. Then it suddenly reverted back into the clear water and chakra pathway form. It then kept repeating the process before Sasuke like a blinking light.

Sakura had always seen diagrams and charts of how the chakra system would look like in books and scrolls. But this was her first time to see it like that with her own two eyes.

"Is that how a Mizu Bunshin would look like….?" asked Sakura nervously.

"Yes, well…when he's in the water and chakra form…" answered Kakashi. After all his years of being an elite shinobi of the Leaf, he'd never seen such thing in his life. It was a phenomenon, much like his brief encounter of the gruesome Kyuubi in the forests of Fire Country.

"That is one sick thing to watch." commented Chiro like he was going to vomit.

'Lucky for us that's one of the least Jutsus he'd show off.' Said Kisame in his mind.

'Demonic knowledge. Manipulation of the elements.' thought up Asami. 'From water to blood. Elements manipulated to other matter, a completely whole level when compared to changing chakra to fire, ice, or any form of matter.'

The same annoying sound entered Sasuke's ears. The annoying small smoke explosion.

The burning log had turned back into the original Sand ANBU captain. He was burning all over like a stuntman in some action movie. But he just stood there like there was nothing at all. Naruto let a burst of chakra out of his whole body, which in turn just extinguished the fire. He didn't look anything like his clone that stood in front of Sasuke. His clothes and mask weren't even singed at all, though it was now covered in dried up mud. Realization dawned on the minds of the two Kage, Kakashi, Baki, and all the ANBU that were with them.

"He never dodged the Ryuuka no Jutsu. Both of them." said Kakashi in surprise.

"You were right when you said there was no way he could have performed the kawarimi." agreed Shizune. "But withstanding that…"

"I know what you mean." interrupted Tsunade. "He placed a Genjutsu that made we think he had placed a kawarimi."

"So he's been lying down on the ground, with his whole body on fire, and maintained a Genjutsu on all of us the whole time?" asked Sakura in disbelief.

"A powerful Genjutsu…" said the ANBU guard with a black raven mask. Sai and Sakura looked at him, waiting for him to explain what he meant.

"Don't forget you two. He placed a genjutsu on our Hokage and the Kazekage without even them noticing. Well Gaara seemed to not have noticed that he was also placed under the genjutsu. Even the Sharingan didn't detect the incoming jutsu, much less prepare Sasuke and me to perform a counter jutsu." explained Kakashi.

"But how about the time when both you and Sasuke were caught under some genjutsu that even lead to a coma?" asked the pink haired kunoichi. "You said that it was done both by Itachi."

"Magenkyou." answered Kakashi briefly. "You know, that odd Sharingan you and Sai saw me and Sasuke performed a while back.

"So he also used the Magenkyou Sharingan, then?" asked Sakura in astonishment. Kakashi noticed that Sai, Shizune, and the Leaf ANBU squad were interested. But the son of the Konoha White Fang didn't notice the three Sand ANBU elites.

"Magenkyou Sharingan. It's a completely whole different level of the Sharingan," stated Kakashi. "Apparently, Itachi thought that killing his best friend was the only way of obtaining the Sharingan."

"But Sasuke-kun proved him wrong." perked up Sakura a little. "You don't even have the Uchiha blood, yet even you can performed it."

"True. But remember, I was bed ridden for a whole weak because the strain it exerted on my body." said Kakashi as he remembered it like it was just yesterday.

The Magenkyou Sharingan had always made him bed ridden. His first encounter of it was when Itachi performed it shortly after his student's first Chuunin exam. They realized that Naruto was drawing something out from under his cloak. He was already in a position where his right hand pointed right towards Sasuke. Asami smiled as she remembered the posture. She knew it, since she taught it to him herself.

Naruto's thumb and middle finger flicked together, and whispered. "Freeze."

Sasuke didn't know how to react when he felt a flash in chakra outburst coming from his back and Naruto. Nothing happened when he kept on looking at Naruto, but he then felt something cold radiating off at his back. He turned around to see what it was. The Mizu Bunshin that was wrapped by five snakes was solid ice. Along with the anaconda and the rest of the snakes, they were now stuck as the fangs and some parts of them were frozen and encased in ice. Naruto already knew that the intense cold would eventually kill the snakes. He hated snakes, even though his fox 'siblings' loved eating them. So he decided to make it quick. He gave another flick of the fingers, and whispered again.

"Spikes."

Sasuke heard the flicking sound from the back, and watched as another burst of chakra flashed in the frozen Mizu Bunshin. His brain reflexively ordered his eyes to shut tight as blood sprayed on to Sasuke's face and shinobi clothes. When he opened back his eyes, he saw the once clear frozen water clone was now covered in huge jagged shards of ice. Protruded all over the place, instantly killing off all five snakes. A long shard of ice had made its way through the lower jaw of the python and out through its head. The rest didn't even need to be checked if they had survived. A bloody tail of snake was already hanging from a several branched out spikes that used to be the clone's left hand. Some blood was trailing down the ice as it mixed with the water that was starting to melt.

"Hyouton (Ice Element)…" whispered Kakashi in disbelief.

Sakura was now dumbfounded; the person that stood there not too far away from Sasuke was just unexplainable. The variety of elements he controlled from an earth dragon to the gruesome ice spikes. The fire didn't seem to hurt him one bit.

The whole thing had played out in a matter of seconds right in front of the spectators. It wasn't usual for Sand-nins to see ice type techniques. Heck, the other four elemental countries have never seen thing played out. Snow-nins were usually weak, that's why they aren't registered as one of the strongest shinobi countries, let alone a Hyoukage (Ice Shadow) as their leader.

"W-O-W." mouthed Chiro out in amazement. Baki's Chuunin slowly shook his head as he witnessed what had happened before his eyes.

Kabuto had seen it a few times, but he would be just as astounded every time he saw Naruto or Asami do one. He didn't exactly say 'wow' in his first time.

"I agree with you there, buddy. W-O-W." mumbled Takagi.

Their teammate kunoichi, Hirami, could just faint in happiness, Uzumaki Naruto had just blast off from her 'Cool Planet' rating.

Asami felt a little annoyed. 'Show off.'

Kisame was a little jealous from the stunt his friend and pulled off. He always wanted to be the center of attention, kind of childish in everyone's opinion. He remembered that Asuma and Kurenai would directly recognize Itachi with his Akatsuki hat off. Well, Kurenai took a while before she could say who Kisame was even with the hat off. Even with he factor that Itachi once came from Konohagakure.

'And he says not draw attention to ourselves.'

Naruto stretched out both his hands like he was a scarecrow. Asami and Kabuto panicked. They all thought the same thing when they saw him in the pose. 'Oh shit! He's got to be kidding.'

'Eheheh, let's see how long the Uchiha is going to last now.' snickered Kisame in delight. Only Gaara and few ANBU Sand-nins had seen him used it ever since he entered Suna.

A katana shot out from each sleeve, but Naruto's hands quickly grabbed upon each before it would shoot out even further. The Sand ANBU captain was now armed with a pair of katana blades. Most ANBU members from the elemental countries had a one sided katana strapped on their back. Most of the spectators were wondering where Naruto stashed his weapons away. They would think he'd started wielding the pair of katana ever since he joined ANBU, but in reality he had using them since Kisame taught him all about weapons. During his three non-stop years of training, he focused and had his eyes on using two-handed swords. He was no longer a right-handed person, that's why he's one of the few shinobis that had kunai and shuriken holster strapped on both thighs.

"Katanas?" asked Sasuke. He remembered his brother using a katana back when he was an ANBU member.

Sasuke drew the only kunai left, and took a guarding stance. "Come on. Onii-san."

There was no chance, even if hell was to freeze all over, would the Uchiha give up. He had few chakra and stamina left in him, and he wasn't going to give up fighting off his brother. Naruto knew his ex-teammate too well, how he was really stubborn even to admit absolute defeat.

'If only your brother were here to see all of this….' thought Naruto.

The Sand ANBU captain set loose the horrifying killing intent that once froze Kakashi and his band of Team 7 in their tracks earlier. It was like a shockwave, the intense intention of performing a kill ripped its way through the Uchiha and all the way to the standing spectators. It repeated over and over through the surrounding shinobis like a continuous ripple on the surface of a pond. Tsunade and Gaara were on standstill. Being a Sannin and Hokage, she could only resist the worse effects while Gaara only had Shukaku in him. However, Gaara could tell that even the one-tailed demon was a little scared.

Sweat trickled down his forehead, either from exhaustion slowly taking its toll and absolute fear. His eyes blinked when a sweat drop tried to flow down into his eyes. The moment he opened them, Uzumaki Naruto was long gone. A clash of metals broke out into the night sky, as the spectators watched on. But they didn't were the sound was coming from. In the second, the intense killing aura vanished like it was never there. However, it left everyone in shivers.

A rustle of the grass behind Sasuke caused him to turn around. He saw the Sand ANBU captain showing his back at him, as he slowly walked to the awaiting Sand-nins. He didn't give a back glance to Sasuke at all His two katanas surprisingly were cutting through the ground when he merely looked like he was just dragging them along. One would expect the blades to fall onto the ground when he let his hands go. It didn't, instead, it was sucked back up his sleeves and were gone like magic. No evidence that the pair of blades ever existed. It wasn't really a magnificent thing to behold about when ninjas were involved, especially ANBU. Like summonings, even items could be stowed away.

Sasuke was trying to figure what just happened when his Konoha head protector split in half and felt down right before his eyes. It hid the ground with a small thud. After all those times. He'd received for the first time when he graduated the Ninja Academy. It then had been scratched by Naruto at the Valley of the End on his first attempt to go to Orochimaru. How Sakura had kept it after all those times and gave it back to him since he returned to Konohagakure. Uchiha Sasuke could feel something warm trickling down his forehead, and it wasn't sweat.

It was his blood.

After all of them recovered from the killing aura, the Leaf-nins and Sand-nins looked at the sparring shinobis. The Leaf-nins and the Sand-nins saw a small laceration on the Uchiha's forehead with the help of the moonlight. His opponent had managed to cut his Konoha head protector in half, and managed to avoid a deep cut by leaving only a small laceration. It all happened so quick, even Tsunade was left in awe. Well, excluding the three Sand elites that is. The cut he had received was nothing three of the best medic-nins of Konoha couldn't fix.

The Sand ANBU captain was making his way with his other three teammates. Gaara's brother couldn't have been happier, as Naruto passed him. He gave a quick bow to Gaara though reluctantly.

"Game Over, Uchiha Sasuke." announced Kankurou with a smile.

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Okay people, time to RATE and REVIEW! I'm sorry for taking such a long time. The fighting on this chap may suck. But this one had been the longest chapter yet. 21 PAGES! Thanks for sending the reviews. I really appreciate them. Please be kind and give your rating and review. 


	10. A sandy gathering

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.

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I'm so sorry for updating so late. I'm sorry. It's been like what since I last posted chapter 9. Here's the latest one. A little character development and some flashbacks here and there. Like always, RATE AND REVIEW, later on. Give me your critics and ideas people! They're heavily appreciated.

**Bold (Demon talking)**

_Italics (Thoughts, flashbacks)

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Uchiha Sasuke fell down to his knees on the ground, with exhaustion finally taking its toll. His chakra reserve was almost finished and he was just dead tired, all because of the a little sparring he asked with the Kazekage's ANBU captain. He didn't know why, but he was somehow slowly breathing hard, the pace getting harder and harder with each breath. He was still thinking, what had just happened in a few seconds ago? He'd seen Rock Lee's speed, which had exponentially grown even faster and faster since he came back to Konohagakure. However, even with such speed, Lee would deliver a fast, hard blow that obviously was noticeable. It'd really hurt. A lot.

Sasuke never felt the blades touching his skin.

It was all too fast; the sound of metals clashing yet no one even saw the blades made contact with one another or with Sasuke's Konoha head protector. Naruto just stood among his fellow Sand comrades, watching Itachi's brother down on his knees. Three years ago, he'd won by tapping into Kyuubi's chakra. He tried to think that it was only fair in doing so since Sasuke brought up the Curse Seal all the way to Level Two. All those times he was held up in the Akatsuki prison all alone without Asami around, made him gave a lot of thinking.

He remembered how he was too dependent of Kyuubi's chakra, especially after he'd managed to convince Kyuubi to lend him chakra before the Chuunin exams. Fighting against Haku, Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, Hyuuga Neji in the exam, Sabaku no Gaara, Kazahana Dotou from Snow Country, Suien of the Waterfall, and the list goes on. Sure all those times and everyone he encountered had special circumstances like Haku having a blood-line limit, Gaara having Shukaku, Kazahana Dotou had that chakra armor, and Suien drank the Hero Water. But he wanted to beat them using his own, not Kyuubi's own. The Nine Tailed Fox Demon had been fighting and winning his battles, not him, and finally he had changed that.

Uzumaki Naruto wanted to taste the victory he'd won with only his hard work and determination. Much how he defeated Mizuki while defending Umino Iruka, Kiba in the Chuunin preliminaries, and Kabuto with his first ever Rasengan.

"Sasuke-kun!" called out Sakura on worry as she ran towards the side of her teammate. Kakashi and Shizune followed suit as they were going to check on the fallen Leaf-nin. Tsunade, Sai, and the rest of the ANBU guards just looked at the sad scenery that laid before them.

Takagi, Chiro, and Hirami couldn't be any happier that night. The arrogant Uchiha Sasuke was beaten. Badly. He never stood a chance against their ANBU captain, very much like how Takagi predicted. But never this bad. All three of them ran towards Naruto with excited faces.

"You totally kicked butt!" waved around Chiro crazily, as he was right in front of Naruto. "I mean that dragon, was like…like…damn awesome! And…and…the look on his face when it turned out that he'd only been fighting a Mizu Bunshin (Water clone)! It was a picture perfect moment. I should've gotten myself a camera."

"How about when he performed the Kamaitachi? I think that's way better, I mean, no battle fan right?" interrupted Hirami.

"The Hyouton Jutsu was the best in my opinion." said Yosuke Takagi. Chiro and Hirami nodded in agreement altogether as they looked up at Naruto. Baki's students were newly appointed Chuunins, the only group from Sunagakure that went for the Jounin exam right after taking the Chuunin exams six month earlier. All three of them were the a year younger than Gaara. The two demon vessels, Naruto and Gaara, were born at the same year. Naruto was older, not ahead by weeks or months, but by years thanks to Kyuubi's decision in aging Naruto's body. It's really awkward for him, younger people looking up to him as he was reminded about Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi.

_--Begin Flashback--_

_"What are you complaining about? You should be happy, you ungrateful brat!" shouted back Kyuubi upon hearing Naruto's complaint. "I just decided that this body should be just as old as your mind is. Three years ahead of training in mind, so why not make it three years for this body of ours too? You stupid brat."_

_The word 'ours' slightly disturbed him. True he was letting Kyuubi out of his cage, sharing bodies, well just settling in. He was the owner of his own body, and the Kyuubi was already treating it like he owns it._

_"Besides, that mate of yours did say you looked better. I think she preferred someone who's at least older or the same age as her."_

_--End Flashback--_

"That's totally an S-Ranked Hyouton technique. I mean you didn't perform a single hand seal, just some flick of a hand." contemplated Takagi. "Your speed, techniques, and all that careful planning. Otou-san was right about you, you're a Kage level all the way."

"His father's Yosuke Hakuba." added Baki like she could read Naruto's mind that was probably wondering who Takagi's father was. "You know, the guy with the large scar trailing from his forehead all the way down to his chin."

Naruto directly remembered, he was the guy that he could associate with his first Chuunin examiner, Morino Ibiki. Hakuba told him that he got the scar from the end of a Leaf ANBU's katana during the Sound and Sand invasion. Not a pretty reminder of past mistakes. Naruto didn't know what to say as he looked at Hirami who was chuckling in delight. Three Chuunins whom were looking up to him surrounded her lover, very much like Gaara's small fan club of girls usually do in looking to Gaara. Striking a deal with Orochimaru, only to find out that he had killed their Kazekage was one of the biggest mistakes the Sand had ever done. Second to the Shukaku human weapon project the Yondaime (The Fourth) Kazekage who actually was Gaara's own father. The Kyuubi vessel snapped out of his daze when he heard one of the ANBU leaf-nins talk.

"That Sand ANBU could've finished him from the start." stated a Konoha ANBU shinobi who was wearing a coal black raven mask.

"What do we know about him so far…?" asked another, this time wearing a hazel brown frog mask tentatively.

"He's not left or right handed. He blocked all of the shurikens thrown by the Uchiha using his left hand. But he wielded the two blades of katanas extremely well when he delivered the last blow. Notice the short glimpse of kunai and shuriken holster on each thigh." started off the black decorated raven ANBU guard. "Uses both hands."

The blue falcon masked ANBU made his point. "Moves really fast. Too fast for any of us to realize what even happened when Uchiha Sasuke tumbled and rolled on the ground by his strike. Has several elemental Jutsus, performing a Hyouton right there with no seals whatsoever. He went through with nothing more but patches of dried mud on him after one very intense battle. He was dominating the spar at the very beginning."

"More like controlling the whole match." bragged Chiro as he puffed up his chest. Trying his best to like as manly as possible, though he looked a little apprehensive

_'What type of Clone was that? The last clone he performed.'_ contemplated Tsunade very hard. _'It was made from water, but somehow it becomes flesh and blood….It was laughing at Sasuke's face.'_

"Why?" asked Sasuke as his voice slowly trembled with anger and frustration in Sakura's arms. He gritted his teeth hard, clenched his fists, and his body shook. "Why? Why?"

Sakura held her teammate in her arms, "Sasuke-kun…."

"WHY! WHY CAN'T I BEAT YOU, ONII-SAN!" shouted Sasuke as he glared at the Sand ANBU captain.

He kept a hard glare on Naruto, as though expecting him to answer his question any time soon. Kisame, Kabuto, and Asami looked at their comrade too, wondering how he would react. Gaara, Kankurou, Baki, Kakashi, and Tsunade just stood quiet on the sideline. Sakura had her right hand glowing with green chakra, slowly healing the cut on the Uchiha's forehead.

"Just leave it, Sasuke-kun." advised Sakura as she held him tight in her arms. "Just leave it. You tried…."

"Sakura is right, Sasuke." agreed Shizune as she crouched down beside him. "It's better that way. Just forget about all about it, you've already forgotten about that revenge of yours. Now just forget about you're brother here, I'm not even sure you should call him your brother anymore."

"That man over there isn't your brother Sasuke-kun." added on Sakura as the Uchiha began to settle down little by little. She continued on, "You told me your brother was a respectable shinobi, one that the whole Uchiha clan was proud of, someone you really looked up to. Is that the man you would look up to?"

Sasuke slowly stood up, with the support of two medic kunoichis by his side. He was tired, really tired in fact.

"I think that's enough for you, Sasuke." conceded Kakashi as he walked off. "You better go back home and rest."

"You'll need all the energy you can replenish for the Jounin exams next thing in the morning," added Shizune. She acted like she was like an older sister to the orphaned Uchiha, she treated the whole Rookie Nine and Neji's team like they were her siblings. She gave a glance at the length of the surrounding trees' shadows to tell the time.

"A good night's sleep should do just fine, and it's only around nine forty-three.

Sakura looked at her Jounin instructor, with a determined face, "Kakashi-sensei. How is it possible that he can withstand that Ryuuka no Jutsu? I mean Orochimaru had the skin of the person he was impersonating melted down like wax. We saw him defending against the Goukakyuu no Jutsu with an earth technique, right?"

"True, but he placed a Genjutsu on all us as he took the direct hit of the Ryuuka no Jutsu. I bet he must have done something under that illusion of his, probably not wanting us to know how he did It." speculated Kakashi as he kept one eye on Naruto. Literally.

Naruto didn't even care that the man of a thousand Jutsus was watching him. Kabuto looked back at the Jounin instructor and grinned, 'you can be very quite aware of everything around you, Kakashi. A genius as the Leaf shinobis would say. But can you figure out that one of your precious Genin, Uzumaki Naruto, is now the captain of the Sand ANBU that had taken down Otogakure?'

FLICK.

The jagged spikes of ice behind Sakura, Sasuke, and Shizune suddenly shattered and crumble down under the moonlight like a thousand diamonds. The loud noise of a breaking glass when it shattered had totally taken everyone by surprise, except for a certain ANBU kunoichi. Asami couldn't help but suppress her laugh after she saw how all the ANBU leaf-nins jumped and circled around their Hokage in reflex. Each one drawing out their katanas and readied it right at Naruto. Naruto seemed annoyed, and simply turned his head towards one of his precious people, currently at the top of the list. The Kazekage, Kisame, Kabuto, and Kankurou followed suit knowing who the real culprit was. There were only two shinobis in Sunagakure that could perform Hyouton (Ice Element) Jutsus and apparently one of them was looking at the other.

Asami coughed a little trying to ease the tension as she held out her right hand, and gave it another flick. The pile of melting ice splashed away into water as it wet the ground in a second. Chakra used in raising and falling water temperatures in an instant, a unique technique of a whole new level when compared to other Hyouton Jutsu. If it was broad daylight, the shinobis could see blood in the puddle of water as it slowly sipped its way into the ground.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Shizune turned around to the Sand-nin elites, knowing it was her doing.

"So you can Hyouton Jutsu too?" asked Sakura. "A bunch of show offs is what I would say about you people. People like you who think they're strong, and then pick on others. But in truth, there more much stronger than you."

_'I'll beat down every single one of you down to pulp! How dare they! Hurting my poor beloved Sasuke-kun!'_ shouted Inner Sakura as she punched into the air several times with huge veins popping on her head. She was burning furiously in Sakura's mind.

The pink hair kunoichi cracked her fingers menacingly, trying to make her point. She tried to direct her killing intent at the four, masked Sand shinobis.

Asami was bored. _'You think that's going to scare me, pinky?'_

Raetsu's daughter released her killing intent, one that totally freaked everyone there. Everyone. Naruto gritted his teeth shut, had his eyes widened, and was sweating profusely though thankfully his Oni mask managed to hide this everyone. He knew it was not directed at him. But over those short periods of time she had trained him in the mindscape, he had somehow developed a fear reacting to her killing intent. If there was one thing he was ever scared of was a pissed Asami. She could hit hard, though nothing like Tsunade's strength, she had something deadlier than brute strength.

Strikes accompanied by sudden painful chilling sensation.

Sub-zero ice spike penetrating through the skin, jabs of pain piercing through the muscles like kunais, followed by the chilling sensation of Artic waters shocking the human body sensation . It was nothing compared to what she could if she was ever in Snow Country or when she decided to bring out her strongest Jutsu.

_--Begin Flashback--_

_"I always think killing someone by freezing them to death is something much worse than being burned alive." said Asami as the two lovers sat at the Akatsuki chamber room. Though, back the, they were just friends. Close friends._

_One would see it as an awkward topic to talk about between two people._

_"Oh really?" asked Naruto after he felt like he had being challenged. He had said something about dieing by being burned alive._

_"Yeah." smiled Asami as she sat right beside the prison stalactite and stalagmite bars, carved with seals. Naruto was just sitting shackled right on the other side._

_"Sure you just like start shivering due to the cold. But when you're in a certain point, you could feel your body slowly freezing up from the inside. Liquid slowly turning to solid. All the moist in your lungs freezes up into tiny, little sharp crystals like minuet glasses._

_Then when you breathe, it become painful as your lungs contract while those tiny water crystals pierce into the walls, linings, and passages of the lungs. Then all those shivers start to become convulsions while the blood in your veins and arteries crystallizes. Your brain--"_

_"Okay, I get it. I get it." interrupted Naruto._

_"But all in all, it's interesting. In the end, you just get drowsy, really sleepy and then fall asleep. A sleep you'll never ever wake up from." finished Asami._

_--End flashback--_

Evidently, he had developed a little trauma every time he sensed her killing intent around. All those painful moments he'd gone through in his training mindscape, only to thank Kyuubi for healing his wounds. Naruto once again snapped out of the recalling past memories. 'Damn! Distracted again.'

_**'I've noticed.'**_ commented Kyuubi.**_ 'Ever since you set your foot in this shit hole. It's really starting to annoy me. The sooner we leave, the better.'_**

_'You can go and scare a bunch of kids with that pathetic killing intent.'_ scoffed off Kisame in mind as he received the intent. 'It's obvious you've never killed anyone before.'

Sakura felt timid as the killing intent struck her, and only her. Powerless just like when she stood weakly in the Forest of Death in front of Orochimaru.

"Sakura, may be you should be one that's suppose to calm down." advised Shizune from Sasuke's side. Her words helped her a bit, "I don't think it is wise. In a way, you're provoking them. Tsunade-sama wouldn't like that."

Sakura resisted the urge upon hearing Shizune's words, and gave a snort. "Humph."

Sasuke thought that he really was starting to rub on his dear teammate, that or she was finally getting confident enough with her strength. Kabuto took a mental note, _'My…my…looks like she finally has something other than that I.Q of hers.'_

Tsunade clapped several times. "I never thought I'd live the day to see a Sand-nin perform a Hyouton Jutsu. You've got some pretty interesting Sand-nins by you side, Kazekage-dono."

The Slug summoner looked at Naruto. "A shinobi with various elements of Ninjutsus, and even capable of placing a Genjutsu on everyone here without notice or hand seal. Tied down with no means of movements, in fact. Even after hearing your denial, Kazekage-dono. If there was gambling, I'd still place a bet that there is a possibility that he is Uchiha Itachi. "

"Hokage-sama, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting." apologized the Owl mask, Byakugan, ANBU. "But I didn't see any chakra pathways flowing near his eyes being used up, so that may be he wasn't using his Sharingan. Or may be he's not even an Uchiha."

Sasuke and Kakashi finally realized their big mistake, they didn't see the Sand ANBU captain drawing in chakra into his eyes. Perhaps he didn't just the Sharingan?

"A shinobi with a freakishly high chakra, carrying a huge wrapped sword, and laughs when he finds out that his comrade had just used a Suiton (Water type) Jutsu. The thing is, I can't seem to catch a glimpse of the color of your skin. " continued the Legendary Sannin like the ANBU never spoke. She moved ahead to Kisame. "Second round, I'd place my bet that he's Hoshigaki Kisame and that sword of his is a Tenken Sword known as Samehada."

Kisame was covered from head to toe, but unlike his three hooded companions, he has to wear actual boots. No toes of heels visible whatsoever. Kisame was expecting something coming from Naruto, if not now, may be later when they weren't in public.

Tsunade looked at Asami. "So far, you've only shown me some swift moves and a Hyouton Jutsu. When you blocked that senior Sand-nin (Old Lady Chiyo), I can only guess you have superb speed and Taijutsu techniques so far. For now, I think I'll just bet that you were a Snow missing-nin. You've got some high chakra reserves for a kunoichi (female ninja), the highest one yet. Though, just below Kisame and Itachi over here. I don't think I have that much chakra myself. "

"And finally you." directed Tsunade as she finished with he ex-Sound-nin, Kabuto. "You're the only smart one enough not to show anything or draw attention to yourself. Lowest chakra reserve in the whole group, I'd have to say. No suppressing whatsoever."

Kabuto wasn't too happy with his assessment. But he couldn't deny the fact, he did have the lowest chakra reserve if compared to Asami. He didn't even have to think of comparing himself with Kisame, let alone Naruto.

He would have pressed his middle finger on the bridge of his glasses out of habit, if the white ANBU mask weren't in the way.

"Even if we were really Akatsuki members, there's nothing you and the rest of the Konoha shinobis can do about it. Is there, Hokage-sama?" questioned Kabuto.

Tsunade knew the hidden meaning under the question the ANBU asked. It was as they say, underneath the underneath. They couldn't risk war between two countries just because of several wanted missing-nins. Tsunade emphasized on the usage of the word 'were' used earlier. 'We were Akatsuki members' could mean that they were no longer members of the Akatsuki organization. Now the granddaughter of the First Hokage was trying to clear things up.

"But I didn't say anything about you four being Akatsuki members, did I?" countered Tsunade as she seemed pretty confident.

Naruto, Kisame, and Asami knew what Kabuto was doing: the medic-nin was probably ready with his own comeback.

"No you didn't, Hokage-sama.," agreed Kabuto. "Not directly at least. However, I'm sure you are fully aware on some of the identities of the Akatsuki members."

"Akatsuki?" interrupted Sakura and wondered what it was after hearing the word twice. "What's that? Some sort of club or something?"

_'Just when I thought she couldn't be any dumber,' _thought Asami.

Now Sai was interested upon the sudden topic of this so called 'Akatsuki'. Directly broken down and translated, it would mean Red Dawn. (Aka means Red, Tsuki means Dawn)

Judging by the faint chilling aura coming from Naruto, the senior Sand-nins knew it wasn't a good idea to stay here any longer.

The chance came.

Hirami gave a yawn, which totally disrupted the whole tension between the two Village shinobis. Baki didn't care if it was intentional or not, but he took the chance.

"Perhaps it would be wise if we wrap things up and leave?" suggested Baki towards Gaara. His voice loud and clear enough for everyone in the training area of Team 7 to hear every word. "Both Takagi and Sasuke are participating in the final phase of the Jounin exam tomorrow. It would be ashamed if the Grass-nin and Waterfall-nin beat each of our participants in front of all the daimyo (landlords) from Fire and Wind Country."

"True. Anyways, that was one fine spar. Don't you agree, Kazekage-dono?" asked Tsunade in opinion. She guess that it would be better to settle the mystery on the identity of the Sand ANBU elites later on. Away from Baki's students, Sakura, and especially Sai. She still thought something was fishy about that young shinobi of the 'Roots'.

"Yes, indeed it was." answered Gaara straight to the point. He bowed down in respect. "I hope we didn't trouble you in anyway, Hokage-dono. Since you had to leave your work and come to greet our arrival personally."

"Trouble?" repeated Tsunade, "No, it was no trouble at all, I was actually relieved to finally get out from that office of mine. Stretch out the legs, breath some fresh air, go around and talk with people about topics that are not related to work."

Gaara could sense that his bodyguards wanted to leave the place sooner, judging by the exchange looks between the Sand and Leaf ANBU, the sooner the better.

"It's best if we depart now." noted Gaara. "Don't worry about us finding our way back to the village. I'll see you again, tomorrow, Hokage-dono."

All ten Sand-nins slowly walked back to the very pathway they entered. Leaving Tsunade with her band of Leaf-nins at the training area of Team 7. All of them walk towards Sasuke for support and encouragement, except Sai. The nine Sand-nins began tree hopping their way back to the village with Naruto in the lead. He still remembered the way back, even after five whole years. The surrounding trees could've grown slightly and the surrounding could've changed. But he didn't find any trouble earlier coming to the training ground of Team 7 just to visit the memorial stone. So finding the road leading back to the village even in the dark shouldn't be a problem at all.

If he did, he had the eyes of a fox, all thanks to the Kyuubi. Foxes known to be nocturnal animals have good night vision just as good as other nocturnal animals. A demon fox's eyesight was something else.

"You sure know when to get on people's nerves, do you?" asked Kabuto as he was right behind Naruto. "You sure had us worried when that water clone of yours jumped out of the water. All burned from head to toe, mask melted, and clothes singed."

Takagi, Chiro, and Hirami just kept quiet, it was a rare opportunity walking with the Kazekage and his four Sand elites. That and the fact that Kabuto just spoke casually with Naruto, trying to strike a conversation. They already knew Asami since she would drop around their training area back in Sunagakure. They thought that this moment shouldn't end. Naruto heard every word, but didn't say a word in reply to Kisame.

"Still with the cold shoulders, huh?" asked Kisame. "There's no Leaf-nin following us or anything, you know. So what's with you?"

Naruto still remained silent.

"Just let him be, Kisame." advised Asami. She didn't mind Baki's three students that were following behind. " Like Gaara said, it was his first time fighting some Leaf-nin. You know his history here in Konoha, and how he's got issues with the people and this place."

"What history?" asked Hirami tentatively beside Takagi. "And what issues does Oni taichou (captain) have against the Leaf?"

His teammates shushed her to be quiet, not to meddle or interrupt into people's businesses.

She retaliated back. "What? Shush yourselves up."

Baki glared at her for not being quiet. She was a boisterous and rowdy kunoichi ever since Baki took her in as a Genin fresh out o the Academy. She was clever, reminded him of Temari, but she lacked the sense of keeping her mouth shut at times.

"Gomen (Sorry), Baki-sensei." apologized Hirami as she looked timid and sorry.

Naruto heard her and gave a large sigh. He didn't know much about Baki's students like Asami did, since he didn't like mingling with people much. Kabuto, Asami, and Kisame knew that if he was given time with someone, he would open a little. Like how he did with Lady Chiyo and Old man Ebizou, a few ANBU members, and Jounins he had to work with. The people of the Sand slowly accepted Uzumaki Naruto when he thought it was safe to only open up to very few. Naruto may not notice in that half a year of being a Sand-nin, but his three friends did, the Kyuubi vessel had a lot of people looking up to him more than he imagined. Thanks to Baki's students earlier right after he had beaten Sasuke, he had realized the fact that he should open up to people more often.

When he meant people, he only meant those of Sunagakure. The people here in the Country of Fire were not people in Naruto's opinion. 'Well, except Tsunade-obachan, Shizune-neechan, Erro Sennin, Iruka-sensei, Konohamaru, Teuchi-ochan and Ayame-neechan.' Thought Naruto. (Note: The last two names worked at Ichiraku Ramen. Old man and daughter.)

They never were.

They weren't fit to be called people.

"It's not her fault, Baki." suddenly spoke Naruto guiltily. "She was just curious. You didn't have to be that angry with her."

The young Chuunin kunoichi, Hirami, was confused. "Eh?"

Everyone there heard him and was confused including Gaara, 'What just happened?' was what all nine Sand-nins asked to themselves. Something was up with their Sand ANBU captain, and they didn't know what it was.

"Hey, are you are okay?" asked Kabuto.

"Yeah, I'm fine." simply answered Naruto. "By the way, Hirami, you sure you want know why? "

Gaara and the rest still weren't convinced, and knew something was up. Baki's student seemed hesitant and looked gingerly at Asami, and Asami just gave her a word of assurance. "Hei, he's talking to you even though he barely even knows you. There's nothing to be afraid of, really. I guess it finally penetrated through that thick skull of his that he should open up more than usual."

"But I'll only be talking freely with the people of Sunagakure." noted Naruto. "Those who I see fit to be trusted. The people of the Sand had been just that since I came in. Talking with you guys here in Konoha, make sure not to say my name in public."

"Hai! Oni Taicho!" saluted Kabuto as he decided to act all too melodramatic.

"He he, so the little hermit crab finally decides to come out of his shell more often." teased Kisame.

"I guess we no longer have to wait all the way till we're clear of any people around before we can hear you talk." added Asami.

"Everyone's going to know that the Academy's dead last Uzumaki Naruto is now the ANBU captain of the Sand by tomorrow." announced Naruto, not caring that Baki's three students hearing it. They already knew what his name was, Asami told them. But being Suna's law, anybody not belonging to Sunagakure should know. Naruto compared it too much like the Konoha law on the existence of Kyuubi sealed within Naruto.

"Academy's dead last?" repeated Hirami.

"So you were a Konoha shinobi before?" asked Chiro in astonishment.

"I was. A dumb one too. Graduated as the dead last of the year from the Academy." told Naruto in a boring tone. "I got problems dealing with these foolish monkeys here since I could remember."

"Why?" asked Takagi. He nearly slipped off a branch as he landed but Chiro held his hand and pulled. He launched Takagi to the next branch of tree to fix the momentum.

Yosuke Takagi was too distracted talking and hearing.

"He had the same problem as I did." answered the Kazekage before Naruto could. Gaara continued. "But the people here never acknowledged him no matter what he had done for their sake."

"So…so…you're a Jinchuuriki too just like Kazekage-sama?" asked Hirami nervously. But everyone could sense it wasn't out of fear, more like excitement hidden in her tone.

"Cool!" shouted Chiro all of sudden. He couldn't control himself as he launched a barrage of questions. "What animal is it? Since Kazekage-sama has a Tanuki (raccoon dog). How many tails does it have? What can you do with it? Is that why the fire didn't burn you? "

"Having a demon sealed inside you isn't something people would call cool, Chiro" lectured Baki after not hearing Naruto say anything in response. "He suffered the same fate just as Gaara did before he became Kazekage. People shunned him, hated him, and despised him. They practically did everything just as we did, luckily he didn't live a life with killing attempts on his back. They didn't treat him as a weapon like we did with Gaara."

"This is like what? Your third time beating his ass right?" asked Kisame.

"So you knew Sasuke from before?" asked Takagi.

"Of course, he was in the same year as I was. That Uchiha was the Number One rookie of the year." answered Naruto as he kept looking forward.

"In fact, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke were his teammates." added Kabuto as he decided to join in the conversation. "A member of Team 7."

Chiro was astounded but also confused. "They were?"

"Yup," confirmed Asami.

"Your Oni taicho here left this village with the Leaf's legendary Sannin. It's been three years since he left." called out Kankurou. He smirked, slightly making his Kabuki face paint a little creepier. "And you know what?"

"What?" chorused all three of Baki's students.

"These people don't even know he'd joined the Sand."

"But...but…we came to realize how important Gaara-sama is to us. We stopped treating him like he was a monster. Gaara never ran away." replied Hirami as she looked at the back of the Kazekage's robes. "Why didn't they-"

"Because it's just the way it is here." interrupted Kabuto before the kunoichi could finish. "Sorry for the interruption, Hirami is it? They're just way too stubborn and ignorant."

"And don't forget stupid. Can't forget stupid." added Kisame with a sharky grin behind his ANBU mask. "That's a crucial point you're missing, Kabuto."

"Fools. Arrogant, stupid, ignorant fools." finished Naruto coldly.

Asami looked worriedly at Naruto, and decided to change the subject. "Let's just hurry up and get back to the inn shall we?"

As they picked up speed, Baki gave a back glance at one of his students.

"Nine."

"Nine? What nine?" pondered Chiro in confusion.

"Nine Tails. The bijou sealed in his body possesses nine tails in total. The strongest out of all the nine demons. The Youma Kyuubi no Kitsune ( Nine Tail Fox Demon)." elaborated Baki.

His three students shuddered in fear a little, after knowing that small piece of information. They heard the tales from their parents and grandparents when they were little kids. The only thing that's worse than the Shukaku, was the Kyuubi. In comparison, it was far worse. Tales of how naughty kids get their minds eaten by Shukaku, and Kyuubi eats their souls later on.

The three of them looked at the back of Naruto's sand brown cloak.

It was all clear. The Village Council had all agreed on that point. The Sand shinobis, though unknown to the rest of the Shinobi world, were currently the strongest shinobis around. A scale tipped immensely thanks to their special elite ANBU squad.

"Remember, no shinobi out of Suna is know about this or anything related to them. Understood, all three of you?" stated Gaara as he landed on a branch and jumped on.

"Hai! Kazekage-sama!" confirmed Takagi, Chiro, and Hirami.

"Good."

The ten Sand-nins were quiet as they continued their tree hopping all the way back to the village. It was just a couple of minutes since Asami last spoke did all of them found the small road leading the village. The entire village could be seen as lights coming from buildings, houses, and street lamps shone under the night sky. It was getting late evidently since most shops along the streets had closed early due to the Jounin exam tomorrow. Still, people could be seen walking through the streets probably on their way home or going on a night outing. The Sand-nins were about to go down road when they heard a sound.

"Gruuuuuuuuu……."

"What was that?" asked Chiro as looked around near the bushes. "Sounds like some poor dieing animal or something."

"Gruuuuuuuuu….."

Kisame, Kabuto, Asami, Gaara, Kankurou, and Baki knew what it was. They had their eyes on the Sand ANBU captain as he blushed embarrassingly under his Onii red mask while holding on his stomach. Then Asami's stomach too was now joining Naruto's in making the rumbling, signaling clear starvation. Being a medic-nin, Kabuto as the only shinobi there that knew exactly why stomach makes the rumbling sound when reaching a certain point of hunger. He did learn a thoroughly study of the human body for years.

_'Air being pushed around by the constant movement of stomach and the intestines in the human body. I guess the last time Naruto and Asami ate was breakfast, we'll probably eat what's left in the inn or order take out while on the back to the inn.'_ thought Kabuto as he gave a full analysis and possibilities.

"Well it seems that poor dieing animal is your stomach, taicho (captain)" teased Kisame as he elbowed Naruto's arm.

He still wasn't clear if Naruto wanted the three Chuunins under Baki should know their ANBU captain's name or not. But then Kisame's own stomach gave out a rumble, a much louder one compared Naruto and Asami's own.

"Look who's talking. We'll see if we can find any pet shop that still opens, because I think we just ran out our monthly fish food supply." retaliated Naruto as he glared back.

"Yeah, and we should by some dog biscuits too. Cause we don't want hear that poor dieing animal go wailing again." countered Kisame as he tried to stretch and look as tall as possible, trying to make a point.

"Why don't you two just shut up." ended Asami as gave a quick punch to each of their stomachs. The two ANBU elites dropped face forward onto the ground as Asami pulled and dragged them on the ground. The three students of Baki couldn't believe what was happening. There they were, Suna's strongest shinobis, fooling around like kids. Kabuto, Gaara, Kankurou, and Baki had seen this a few times back in Sunagakure. They were already used to it.

"Somehow, I think we're better off with our stomachs rumbling in hunger instead of pain…" coughed Kisame as he was dragged along.

"I think my stomach just died…" complained Naruto as he was dragged along a few feet before she let go.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moments later……

Uzumaki Naruto was now walking through the streets of Konohagakure with his ANBU cloak covered in dried mud and dirt. Asami was by his right side, with no remorse or regret after she done. Kisame was walking behind him with the backside of his sand brown cloak covered in evident road dirt. Kabuto walked quietly beside the ex-Akatsuki member as he looked around for a place to eat. Gaara was behind them, in between Kankurou and Baki, while the three Chuunins were following behind. They were totally grabbing the attention of everyone that were walking in the streets or closing shops.

A Kazekage with scary looking ANBU bodyguards walking around Konoha streets at night, how possible could alerted Konoha bystander not notice?

"We're definitely ordering take out." mumbled Kisame in irritation.

"That is, IF we could find a restaurant or joint that still opens." said Kabuto as he watched a man pull down the metal slide down, closing his grocery shop. "All of them are probably closing early since they want to get up for tomorrow's Jounin tournament."

"This is weird. Shouldn't the shops close later than usual since there are more people coming into Konoha?" wondered Kankurou as he made a survey. "With them coming all over Fire and Wind Country."

His brother, the Kazekage, didn't know what to say in return. He was imagining how the villagers here would still be treating Naruto if he hadn't left Konohagakure.

"Come on, I'm sure there's got to be something." cheered Asami as she found some more restaurants already closed up. "Sushi, rice curry, steam boat, a barbecue grill….anything edible. I'm starving here, people."

"How about ramen?" asked Naruto as he remembered the old Ichiraku Ramen shop in the neighborhood where he used to live. "You did say anything, Asami."

"Fine! Whatever! Ramen it is!" shouted Asami out loud startling and scaring all the pedestrians around. Some fled while some kept their distance away from the group. Hirami giggled in delight in between Takagi and Chiro, though her teammates just smiled, as they saw the villagers' scared faces.

Naruto tried to remember his way as he led the nine Sand-nins through the emptying streets of Konoha. He finally found it, and was surprised when he caught his first glimpse at the present Ichiraku Ramen. It had become slightly bigger, a few modifications or expansions that happened since he left. The lights were still visible, coming under and in between the curtains that was its entrance. The Kyuubi vessel pushed away the curtain slowly as he entered first. The others followed suit, being strangers in this foreign territory.

_'Eh?'_ thought of Naruto upon seeing the occupants.

_**'Smooth move, brat. Best one yet I've seen so far.'**_ suddenly joined Kyuubi in his head.

The place had expanded a little, with a few sets of tables around seating a family of four each. The arrangements kind of made Naruto remember them of his classroom in the shinobi Academy. Rows of tables arranged like students' own with the counter up front like Umino Iruka's teachers table. What totally surprised him was that the customers there were all Sand-nins. More specifically: Temari, Lady Chiyo, Old man Ebizou, and several Sand ANBU shinobis that came along in the small caravan from Sunagakure. Naruto felt like he was truly back home, not here, but in Suna.

Apparently there were three waitresses waiting by the counter, Ayame were handling the cash register. Judging by the nervous and worried faces on the three waitresses, they didn't seem to be too happy with the company eating there. However Ayame was with her usual smile as she watched the Sand-nins eat and chat happily. Naruto couldn't see the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, Teuchi, anywhere in the restaurant.

Naruto gave a theory._ 'He's probably busy working in the kitchen I guess, this place sure has changed a lot.'_

"Well…look who decided to drop in for dinner." said Temari right after she slurped some noodles and swallowed.

All the Sand ANBU guards turned around upon hearing, and were taken by surprise by the presence of their captain. Uzumaki Naruto held the highest post in the ANBU ranks even after only joining the ANBU division less than year. He was the captain of all captains as they say, while Kisame, Kabuto, and Asami could be captains themselves if they were ever given or requested their own squad. But the four of shinobis had decided to stick together, no matter what happens. Making their squad, the strongest one yet that ever existed in Sunagakure.

"Taicho (captain)! Fancy meeting you here.," shouted an ANBU with his mask in vertical lines as eye openings like a knight's helmet.

All of them were still wearing their ANBU masks even while eating. Desert brown, sand could be seen littered near the legs of each of their seats. That solved the mystery as to how Sand ANBU shinobis were able to keep their masks and identities while eating. The secret was simple if the people could see it with their own eyes.

The white bone ANBU masks were made out of Sand.

Shaped and reinforced by chakra, these ANBU masks were exactly like Gaara's sand armor. They stick to the wearer's face because of the chakra used with the exact basic principles of sticking and walking on trees. Exact amounts of chakra constantly released but in small amounts since it's just at the linings where the edge of the mask touches the skin. Or not, just use the plain old traditional tie a strap around the head. Apparently, the ANBU masks that they were currently wearing just covered the upper part of their face. Leaving the mouth free access of the food and water, since the sand that were suppose to cover the mouth were on the floor.

"What happened to you, taicho?" laughed another ANBU who already finished eating. He had a glass of water in his right hand while the left on the table. "Your cloak's all covered in dirt and mud."

All the ANBU guards here were few of those in Suna that he was closed too. Those who got their chance to work alongside Naruto's team in missions that require more than just one team. At first, Naruto and his gang told Gaara that they didn't need back up or some extra helping hands. But Gaara, Lady Chiyo, and Old Man Ebizou told them that these people were just for temporary or new recruits just as they were while some were veterans that could probably teach them a thing or two.

"Long story, short. Kicked an Uchiha's butt." summarized Naruto happily as he took a seat at empty table even after several ANBU shinobis had called him over to sit along.

"Kick whose butt?" asked Temari as she didn't fully catch what he said.

"Long story. Tell you later." replied Naruto as he turned back to call in the rest that were waiting outside.

"What's all the ruckus?" Kisame peeked all of a sudden, and came through the white curtain of the entrance.

Kisame and the rest that have been waiting for Naruto, decided to check what the commotion was all about. They were just as surprised as Naruto when they came in through the curtain. After a few acknowledgments and talking between the Kazekage and his fellow ANBU Sand-nins, Gaara and Kankurou slowly took their seats at Temari's table that also had Lady Chiyo and Old Man Ebizou. Kisame, Kabuto, and Asami took their seats at Naruto's table while Baki and his students at another.

_'Man, this is so cool! Eating dinner with probably the strongest shinobis of the Sand, heck, may be the world!'_ shouted Chiro in his mind in excitement.

(Note: Chiro does not have a hidden personality like Inner Sakura.)

"I hate it when you make some wild decisions and then really turns out to be too good to be true. Like pure good luck all the way." complained Kisame, deep down liking what was happening.

"Look, are we going to eat or what?" asked Asami grouchily. She always gets a little cranky when she was really hungry. The hungrier, the grouchier. Naruto and Kisame remembered Kabuto saying something about low sugar level and her hormones reacting in a weird manner. A waitress was already waiting with a notepad in her hand, and she seemed slightly nervous.

"Eight Miso Ramen." ordered Naruto simply, with a little tinge of cold in his voice, without bothering to have a look at the menu.

The waitress scribbled down on the notepad, and was going to leave as she thought she had finished taking down all the orders from the four of them. _'Two bowls each.'_

"Hei. Wait up." called out Kabuto. "We haven't ordered yet. You only jot down his order."

The waitress was surprised when she heard this. _'All eight just for him?"_

"I want six Seafood Ramen. Skip the seaweeds. I don't want any." picked Kisame after finding something on the menu. He hated seaweeds, veggies, or anything that is green color related.

"I'll have the same. But only five Seafood Ramen. Put all the seaweeds that's suppose to go into his into my order." finished Asami.

Kabuto seemed a little embarrassed. "Eeeer…I'll have only two Pork Ramen please."

The waitress jotted everything down quickly, wanting to get away as soon as possible. She stuttered, badly. "Um…um….um…a…a...anything….e...e...e…else…?

"Huh? Oh, bring two jugs of water too." thought up Kabuto after all three them looked at him as making him to do all the talking.

"Do you have serve some sake (the Japanese wine ok?) here?" asked Kisame.

"No sake." stated Naruto coldly which didn't even make Kisame protest.

"Um…um…no sake?" asked the waitress nervously.

"There will be not need, it seems." answered Kabuto as he understood from Naruto's command. "Sorry for the trouble."

The waitress quickly left the table as she walked a little too fast towards the kitchen.

"I don't want you waking up with a hang over and a bad case of headache next thing in the morning." explained Naruto as he continued talking. "Drink all you want after the mission tomorrow."

"Okay then.' replied Kisame a little too nice. He flashed his sharky teeth after his Sand ANBU mask crumbled. "But you'll be paying. ALL of it. And I'm drinking in a bar, not here."

"Drink away then." muttered Naruto.

Kabuto didn't like the prospect of drinking alcoholic drinks. Being a medic-nin, he knew all to well the properties of what alcohol can do to the human body. Kill bacteria, a depressant in the central nervous system, alter the brain's reaction time as it slows down body actions, more specifically a fall-off in any performance that requires human activity skills, and how it gets broken down in the liver.

"Man, I bet most of the money you guys earn through all those missions gets spent when you eat." said an ANBU Sand-nin from across a table. The eyeholes on his mask were repeated horizontal ones, instead of vertical.

"Ah, put a sock in it." replied Kisame as he turned around. "You know how it is. Monstrous chakra needs monstrous amounts of food for replenishment. Lucky I didn't spend any chakra today. The amount of food is just adequate to our appetites. We're not just hogging up lots of food like some over sized pig."

"You should have seen Onii Taicho sweep Uchiha Sasuke clean!" shouted Chiro from his seat as they waited for their orders to come. "That show off Leaf-nin didn't even stand a chance!"

"So that's why you guys took a long time, huh? I thought it was some chit-chat or tour around the village." said Temari in a too sweet, malicious tone. She was going to give a piece of her mind when they all got back into the inn.

"You should have seen it!" stormed Chiro. "It was like…."

"W-O-W." finished Takagi as he used the same words when he saw the Hyouton Jutsu.

"Yeah, what Takagi said. W-O-W." agreed Chiro. He like a little boy who just drank ten cups of coffee. "There was this earth dragon shooting right of the ground, a horde of Water and Sand Clones, he got hit by a Katon but it did no damage whatsoever, and--"

"Believe me kid, you've seen nothing compared to what all of us saw when he's really serious." interrupted an ANBU. He touched the sand littered near the foot of his seat, and all of them gathered forming a part of his lower mask. He placed it over his mouth, and the two parts joined together as chakra pasted them together.

"Yeah, you've seen nothing yet. I don't think any of us have ever seen them showing their strongest Jutsus yet." added an ANBU who was just sitting.

Temari watched Naruto while resting her head on her left hand placed on the table, from her seat while Gaara and Kankurou ate their noodles. There he was, with the lower part of his ANBU mask off as he had left the sand crumble from his mask. Eating slowly: slurping in some noodles little by little, his cheeks were bulged with large contents of food in his mouth, chewing normally, and swallow. She shook her head with a smile.

Temari thought of something as she remembered Nara Shikamaru, 'That lazy bum would have to see this with his own eyes if that lazy bum was ever going to believe this.'

Temari had talked to Shikamaru once on what he knew about a particular loud-mouthed blonde whom had left Konoha for training. The Shadow binder told her that he was one troublesome shinobi. Who wasn't in his point of view? That boy surprised him in the Chuunin exams when he fought Kiba. He was also the only shinobi in Konoha that could eat just as fast as a member of the Akimichi clan. Another surprise he encountered when Naruto ate together with Chouji at the Ichiraku Ramen. When the Sand kunoichi returned back to Suna, she called Naruto and Asami for a little get together meeting while treating them at an all you can eat restaurant. She had doubts on what Shikamaru said earlier when Naruto just plain normally with table manners.

_--Begin Flashback—_

_"You know, I heard Shikamaru said that you could eat just fast like any member of the Akimichi clan." said Temari as she held a sushi in her chopstick._

_Asami apparently had left for the toilet, and Temari decided to pop out the question._

_"I could. But not anymore." replied Naruto. "I kind of lost that habit."_

_"Why?"_

_"Asami didn't like it when she saw me eat for the first time." answered Naruto. He chuckled. "She thought that I only ate like that since I was really starving back in the Akatsuki prison. But then she noticed how I kept eating like that even after I started receiving regular meals. Those stupid members in the Akatsuki didn't want me to be too frail or weak. They couldn't risk having me to accidentally drop dead in their wacky seal experiments."_

_"So you started learning what table manner was all about because of her?" pointed Temari after hearing him talk. She teased "That's so romantic."_

_"I already know. Just didn't bother practicing them." mumbled Naruto with a little irritation. "I only ate properly back when I was eating at a client's house while doing missions back at shit hole."_

_'Shit hole…he he he he he he.' chuckled the nine tailed fox demon._

_Naruto just realized that Kyuubi was already rubbing off on him in ways he didn't think was possible. Thanks to the demon, it had affected a few of his vocabulary words._

_"Konoha you mean?" deciphered Temari upon the word shit hole._

_Naruto chewed a sushi and swallowed. "Yeah, whatever."_

_--End Flashback--_

As Naruto moved on to finishing his last bowl when he looked at something.

"Takagi, what are you doing?" asked Chiro as he watched his teammate place a bowl upside down on the table. He then took Hirami's ramen bowl and placed it over his.

"I'm washing my clothes." answered Takagi a little bit angry. "Geez, what does it look like I'm doing? You blind or what?"

"You don't have to be that harsh, Takagi." replied Chiro a little heart broken.

"Sorry," apologized Takagi as he placed Baki's bowl on the stack. "Just playing around. Want to see how stable a tall stack of bowls can be if I arrange them like this. I mean it should be more stable since I have the base spread out while upside down. Affects canter of gravity as stuff…."

Baki and Hirami didn't even bother to care what the Chuunin was doing. Chiro wasn't interested anymore. "You need a hobby."

"And you need to start getting stronger." added Takagi.

"Ah, shut up. You got lucky since you were fighting that Uchiha's tramp." replied Chiro.

Their kunoichi teammate decided to join in the conversation. "You know, I bet you would start screaming out like a girl just like Chiro did when he fought that Grass-nin."

"Yeah!" agreed Chiro.

A few seconds later flew by.

"Hei! I do not scream like a girl!"

Naruto kept watching with interest, smirking his trademark foxy grin that in turn grabbed the attention of both Kabuto and Kisame. He still had eyes on the stack of upside down ramen bowls.

"So who's paying?" asked Asami after she finished drinking her third glass of water.

Kisame, Kabuto, and Naruto was all too used to the situation. Asami had her father's strength, most of his Hyouton techniques, and his stingy personality of spending money. It was all too weird in their point of view. She gave away some money from the payment of S-Rank missions back to the village, and kept her fair share: it was A LOT. But the three of them had to do most of money handling (Payment).

"Don't worry. I'm paying." stated Gaara as he made his way to the counter.

Everyone else knew not to bother or argue with the Kazekage once he had made a decision. The Shukaku vessel walked to the counter, and paid for everyone. His people liked him for that: he wasn't arrogant, secretive, harsh, a power luster, and totally not the monster they once thought. He was everything they ever wanted as their protector. A first, most of inhabitants of Sunagakure were hesitant and fearful of him being their Godaime (Fifth) Kazekage. Very few acknowledged him. But they realized who he was, the hard way. Having him taken away by members of the Akatsuki after he saved the whole village from absolute destruction. They finally realized it:

He was a Kazekage.

Just like any Kazekage before him.

More importantly, he was a human.

Just like any of them.

They were grateful when they were given a second chance. Having their Kazekage returned to them supported by a Jinchuuriki just like him along with two missing-nins by his side.

(Note: Kabuto joined Naruto, Kisame, and Asami after they destroyed Otogakure (Hidden Sound).

Naruto didn't join Suna directly, he traveled around with Kisame and Asami. After some time, the four joined Suna. I'll explain everything later on. Don't worry. I already got this planned out. So you people just have to keep on reading.)

Naruto stared at Ayame, who was sitting behind the cash register. She bowed a little to the Kazekage, and waved goodbye as she smiled sweetly at Gaara. Naruto was a little surprised when he saw Gaara blushed a little in return under his Kazekage hat. She totally didn't mind some very important person, Kazekage or Hokage, dropping by to eat ramen at her father's shop. She just loved watching people coming, enjoying themselves as they have a great time eating and talking. To Naruto, it had been five years since he last visited this place. Five years since he had last seen Ayame and old man Teuchi. It made him wonder just what the hell wrong with the monkeys (inhabitants) here in Konoha.

"So she must this Ayame-neechan you've talked about, huh?" asked Asami as she whispered at Naruto's ear in understanding.

Asami knew the very few people that Naruto loved in Konohagakure, and was now impressed. She had met Tsunade and Shizune so far, and she totally understood why he could not hate her like the rest of the Leaf-nins. The Hyouton Jutsu mistress was now interested in meeting who ever this so called Iruka, Teuchi, and Konohamaru. Naruto froze a little in his seat upon surprised hearing her voice. No shinobi that could creep and surprise him like her. Heck, not shinobi can. Kyuubi laughed again in his head. 'Oh, this is just hilarious!'

The Kyuubi vessel knew she wasn't just jealous when he heard her tone.

"Yeah, she is. Always with that sweet smile of hers. Sure wished I could introduce her to you. I bet you'd get along with her just as fine as you do with Temari."

The group of Sand-nins left altogether, making their way to the building where they will be staying for two more nights. Of course they wouldn't be leaving to Sunagakure directly right after the Jounin exams. Takagi would be taking his Jounin exam that day, and would wait for the Jounin exam results could be announced later on. Of course, they couldn't risk having their Kazekage staying away from their village too long. Naruto and his comrades thought about leaving right after killing Orochimaru, but he knew the complications that will arise with the plan the four of them of going to carry out tomorrow. The Sand ANBU captain looked up to the night sky and saw a full moon, remembering him of a complete moon cycle. That's how demons and his fox family could tell the time. Time to set all things down.

_'Orochimaru. Ingrates . Tsunade-obachan. '_ thought off Naruto as stared to the white, full moon above. _'I'm going to settle it all, once and for all.'_

On the other side of the Konohagakure,

The body of an unconscious Grass Jounin shinobi was dropped into a stone coffin. On its left side, laid fifteen more coffins though they were all closed up. Sixteen all together, arranged in rows of four by four. Long seal writings trailing out from the hard casings down to the ground in a circle. Eerie purple light glowing from each seal as they slowly snaked their way into the tiny linings of the slab cover.

"Ku ku ku ku ku ku ku." evilly chuckled the Snake Sannin as finally finished preparing the last sacrifice in performing his variant summoning Jutsu.

"Nothing shall stop me. Not even you, Tsunade." Orochimaru idly talked all to himself. "I will have your body tomorrow, Sasuke. Ku ku ku ku ku ku. No matter what happens."

He walked by the side of a red coffin with the number 'Four', and ran his hand over the cold hard surface like a man admiring a new car for sale.

"I didn't get a chance to summon you out, no thanks that you. Sarutobi." complained Orochimaru as he turned his attention to the third red coffin right behind him. His long wet snaky tongue making its way out, longer than how the average human tongue should be. "How I'm going to enjoy watching you kill the very people you've protected all your life. Konoha shall burn down to the ground as it will finally live out its true name as Fire Country."

"The very protectors of Konoha shall rise once again and serve….ME." said the Snake Sannin as he looked down on all three coffins. "Who's having the last smile, now, Sarutobi?"

Orochimaru didn't think it was funny at all. That accursed old fool smiling as he dropped dead on the battleground, on top of the roof tiles. He had planned it all out perfectly. Take over Sasuke's body in front of over a hundred watchful eyes of the shinobis, land lords, and villagers of Konoha. Raise the four Hokage of the Leaf, and watch as they wreak havoc and destruction. He knew he wouldn't succeed fully in destroying Konoha, but that wasn't the point why he was risking his life going out in the open. He was going to cripple Konoha once more, or perhaps of finally putting an end to Konoha. Then start building his Sound Village all over again with his new and last body he'll ever have to move into.

He may not have his personnel Sound guards by his side.

He had something better, he was going to raise a small group consisting of all the dead Hokage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage, Raikage, and Mizukage. He counted them down as he remembered gathering informations through out all those time since his Hidden Village of the Sound was destroyed. He was delighted, knowing the contents of all sixteen stone coffins.

Four Hokage, four Kazekage, three Mizukage, three Raikage, and two Tsuchikage.

They would be an unstoppable army of the dead. It was a perfect plan he thought. Nothing could go wrong. Absolutely nothing.

Except a certain blonde Jinchuuriki (vessel) that is.

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You know the drill. RATE AND REVIEW, people. Reviews are highly appreciated and they motivate me to write more. The more, the sooner. Drop in a few ideas if you want. Ma ye be something for me to build up on. Reviews on chapter nine was great. But people gave me ideas on what write on back chapter eight, which also has the highest number of overall reviews. I know this chapter took a long a time to be posted, and it probably wasn't worth the wait. I had some problems. Silly problems. All the action and fighting scenes planned out, but I wanted the characters in my story develop a little. PLEASE PEOPLE! RATE AND REVIEW! 


	11. Inn and island

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, never did, and never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.**

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I'd like to thank you readers who have sent their reviews and comments. Pointing out mistakes and some reviews have even given me ideas. I apologize for the slow update. Really sorry. Like before, I'm trying to develop the story instead of going on an all-bashing fiction. I've reposted and repaired the mistakes done on past chapters. From obvious typing errors to fixing some glitch and misunderstanding. Great thanks to the Disruptive One. I fixed the part of not including Shizune in Naruto's short list of precious people in Konoha.

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"Hei, Takagi." called Chiro as he turned around under his blanket. 

"What…? Go to sleep…." replied Takagi drowsily under his blanket. "I've got a Jounin exam to pass tomorrow, you know."

All three of Baki's students had returned to their respective room. Hirami and Baki each had a room all to themselves, while Chiro and Takagi had to sleep on the couch. The whole inn was reserved for the Sand-nins to stay, why the Chuunins didn't get a room each like the ANBU members was a mystery. Each room in the inn was very much like an apartment: equipped with a sofa set, T.V, a mini bar, with a master bedroom or two bedrooms. Clearly, the inn had given or Baki had taken the one that had two separate bedrooms.

"Oh come on…," pleaded Chiro. Evident that he wasn't the slightest bit ready of going to sleep.

"Go to sleep…I don't want to get into trouble if Baki sensei barges in while the both of us are still awake…" mumbled on Takagi as he pulled up his blanket.

"I was wondering about something." said Chiro as he looked up at the ceiling. "About Oni taicho (Demon captain)."

Takagi didn't say anything in return, trying his best to get to sleep. Being teammates, Chiro knew too well that his friend was just acting and was hearing every word.

"What do you think Oni taicho can do thanks to his bijou?" wondered Chiro as he had the palm of his hands together at the back of his head, on the pillow. "I mean Kazekage-sama has that cool protective sand of his. To react and move around without him giving out the slightest thought or command."

Takagi still remained silent. Thanks to his friend, he was now wondering the same thing after watching the ANBU captain totally thrashed the genius Uchiha of the Leaf. All those Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and the speed he saw were incredible. To top it all off, an ANBU Sand-nin at the Ichiraku Ramen had told him that he hasn't seen anything yet.

"Come on Takagi, I know you're not asleep." ranted Chiro in the dark.

Takagi gave a long yawn. "Just shut up and go to sleep, okay? I have a Jounin exam to ace and you don't. If you don't knock it off, I'll go and sleep at Baki sensei's room. I'll be damn with the consequences as long as I don't wake up late tomorrow."

"Yeah. Yeah." replied Chiro. The Chuunin wasn't going to sleep just yet.

It was all too quiet after two minutes, with Takagi finally getting the peace and quiet he deserved. Until…..

"What if all those bedtime stories we used to hear about were true? May be Oni taicho can really take out your soul from your body, and then he'll eat it all up? I mean through that freaky blood red mask of his? Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Chiro." called Takagi in a neutral tone.

"Yeah?" replied his teammate.

"First of all," pointed Takagi with his eyes still shut. "May I remind you Baki sensei said, a demon sealed in your body isn't something cool."

"Oh…okay." agreed Chiro. "Second?"

"Second of all. Eating a person's soul isn't something you'd call 'cool'." continued Takagi. "Even if it that was possible. Which I strongly believe it's not. I don't think Oni taicho would want to."

"Why's that?" asked Chiro in confusion.

"He's willing to pay a huge sum of money every time he eats out." answered Takagi. "That totally states that he prefers to eat food than people's soul."

"May be he just like switching out between meals or something. He eats food, then he eats souls when he's on missions."

"Thus, we go back to 'I strongly believe that's not even true'." reminded Takagi. He was all too tired to have a little chat at the moment. "That and the fact that he probably prefers to kill his targets with those two katanas of his, instead of engulfing their souls."

"You think so?" asked Chiro.

"Not sure," said the Ant Lion summoner. He was being sarcastic. "I'll ask him next thing in the morning."

"Really?"

"No." replied Takagi who getting angrier as time passed by.

"But you said--" continued Chiro.

"Look! I was being sarcastic okay?" Takagi finally blew up. "Can we both go to sleep now? I have to beat a shinobi that's almost twice my age tomorrow morning in front of over thousands of people that has gathered all over Fire and Wind Country. If you go to sleep, I'll think about asking him the question."

"Are you serious or just being sarcastic like before?" asked Chiro in suspicion, narrowing his eyes. Looking at the silhouette of his teammate on the sofa.

Takagi couldn't take it any more and performed a hand seal. One that was particularly similar to when Gaara stood out on Shukaku's forehead. 'Thank god, Baki Sensei taught me this Jutsu…'

Yosuke Takagi finally dropped off to sleep on his couch, leaving his hyperactive Chuunin companion awake all alone.

Chiro finally decided to go to sleep. Talking all to himself. "I hate it when he does that."

Meanwhile, fifteen minutes before. Taking place several rooms away.

Gaara walked to the luxury suite that had been specially prepared for the Kazekage, courtesy of the people of Konoha. The other ANBU guards, Kankurou, Temari, Lady Chio, and Old man Ebizou had already returned to their own respective rooms. The Shukaku vessel was thinking about the private conversations that just happened with Naruto.

_--Begin Flashback--_

_"Hei Gaara, I need another favour." requested Naruto._

_Every time Gaara heard this, something was up. Something that he needed consent from his 'superior', no matter what his team was up to. Naruto, Asami, Kabuto and Kisame were Sand-nins, those that had been in service for Sunagakure for more than a year, whether counted officially or not. _

_The two Jinchuuriki were talking while sitting at the staircase, which was an odd place for two people to have a conversation. The rest of the Sand-nins knew all too well , it was either a family talk between brothers. That or business talk like giving reports between a Kazekage and an ANBU captain that either one of them couldn't seem to wait until they reached a room. Asami along with the Sand-nins just waited._

_"What do you want?" asked Gaara directly towards the subject._

_To Naruto, he was just being plain old Gaara. A person that wastes no time in asking why, when, or try to know further details pertaining to a certain matter. He didn't care much about that._

_Naruto idly scratched the whisker marks on his right cheek. "I want to have a little chat with Shukaku." _

_Gaara gave him a questioning look._

_"I know it sounds ridiculous. Chatting with rampaging tailed demon isn't something people find normal." pleaded Naruto. "Just hear me out okay?"_

_The maroon haired Kazekage was silent. " To me, it doesn't sound ridiculous. It's a marvel for you to have a great understanding with Kyuubi. Something that I am unable to do with Shukaku." _

_Both Kyuubi and Naruto were speechless, but the two were silent for different reasons._

_Naruto gave his usual cheery, foxy grin. "Well the, let's just say...This little conversation with Shukaku is a step to at least making terms with that sand Tanuki. I don't mean like being friends or anything, more like know him a little. Like getting to know a stranger, you don't have to like that person or hate that person. A talk with Kyuubi, I hear Shukaku is a really jolly kind of demon."_

_Kyuubi added, though he knew only Naruto could hear him._**_ " A rampaging, destruction wrecking, jolly kind of demon. That one tail just destroys anything whenever he feels like it. Unlike me, he doesn't thirst for the thrill, the amusement, and the excitement coming from the resistance and the battles puny humans put up. Though they're truly pathetic, the only time I've ever got that was from the so called Fourth Hokage and few fights you've had your entire life."_**

_Naruto replied back to Kyuubi, 'In short, Shukaku is a total opposite to what Gaara is.'_

_To Gaara's surprise, he could feel something stir up in Shukaku._

_--End Flashback—_

The four Sand ANBU elites were walking down the corridor, towards their room. Kisame had been wondering about something ever since he finished watching the little fight at the training ground.

"I want to know something. Why didn't you just beat the hell out of that pesky Uchiha kid?" asked Kisame as he looked down at the back of Naruto's head. He was the tallest out of all them after all, clearly by a head at least. "I know you could've just beaten him down to a pulp."

Asami joined in. "You know, I was wondering the same thing."

"I didn't want to." summed up Naruto.

"Oh? You suddenly decided to just go soft on your opponent?" asked Kisame. "The Kyuubi vessel I knew would've start thrashing him hard the very second they both started that match. I mean you're just as serious and cruel as Itachi is when it came down to fighting anyone, and I mean ANYONE."

"After that beating he received right after that failed Chidori attempt, he should've at least have a broken rib or two." said Kabuto. "That indicated that you were holding back."

The wearer of the creepy Oni mask kept looking forward. "There was no need to."

"Why's that?" asked Asami, in surprised hearing what Naruto just said. "We did have medic-nins ready on the side-line. He was like practically pointing out that they will be of need."

"The injuries I could have inflicted on Sasuke-teme aren't something medic-nins can work out in one day." answered Naruto.

"Such as?" continued Asami, though she already knew what the answers were.

Naruto thought about his teacher's brother lying down while shouting or hissing in agony. "Broken bones."

The three had to agree, broken bones isn't something medic-nins could heal directly. It's not something like closing up wounds. The best thing medic-nins could do about mending broken bones is reducing the time it takes for them to heal. It's one of those injuries where all shinobis try to avoid, since the consequences are too bothersome. It takes too much time to recover. A complete recovery so it wouldn't weaken the bone structure or simply break again. If medic-nins could fix that thing in a jiff, Lee wouldn't have been spent too much time walking around with a crutch, cast on his left leg and arm. A courtesy of Gaara's Sabaku Sousou (Sand Burial) since he was unable to cover him whole in the Chuunin preliminaries. Shikamaru wouldn't have too much about his broken thumb on his first ever Chuunin mission.

Kisame laughed. "So you would have beaten done him really bad. But for some reason, you didn't."

"We all know Gaara-sama and Tsunade would have intervened the sparring session the moment you cross the line," added Kabuto. "I'm sure Naruto-kun has a lot of reasons why he avoided beating up Sasuke. Attracts more attention than we've already drawn to ourselves? Not to blow our cover? Not worth the effort?"

"We need bait to lure the snake out." explained Naruto. "I don't like to idea about the four of us missing another opportunity in killing that snake. All those time searching and destroying his hidden bases, only to find that he's not there. It takes too much time, and he'll take his time to get Sasuke's body."

"Personally, I think you just hate the idea of spending your time here in Konoha." commented Kisame as he gave a pat on Naruto's back.

With that, Asami stopped in her tracks and elbowed Kisame in the stomach. "Geez, you think?"

Weird enough, the kunoichi raised the same hand and slapped the back of her lover's head.

"Ouch! What was that for?" demanded Naruto in puzzlement as he rubbed his head in pain.

"For pulling off those annoying tricks in that spar of yours. You fooled all of us back with that burned up clone of yours. You boil me up every time you make me worry like that." answered Asami with a tinge of anger.

Kisame nodded in agreement while still recovering from Asami's assault. "Stupid illusionary tricks. You just can't fight on without the occasional Genjutsu casting around."

"You're right. I think I'll do just that next time." replied Naruto sarcastically. "Just forget all those things that makes one a shinobi. Fighting someone face to face with no tricks whatsoever."

Kabuto expected Kisame ready with his answer as he slightly looked up to his tall friend.

"That's not what I meant." Kisame snarled and bared his sharky teeth. Naruto couldn't see it but he already knew from the snarl. The Samehada wielder finished. "Trick your enemies, not your comrades."

Just when Naruto think it was all over, Asami gave a punch at his shoulders. Right when the ache on his head was starting to disappear. He and Kyuubi always wondered why he couldn't dodge such hits coming from the red haired kunoichi when he could just easily dodge attacks from enemies.

"What?" asked Naruto looking at his 'mate', as what the fellow foxes including Kyuubi would say. He rubbed his right shoulder. Kyuubi was already easing the pain, since he too was sharing the body.

"Temari said she was really pissed when she came to know about missing that spar. She knew there was no way she could lay a hit on you, so she decided to ask for my help." answered Asami.

She didn't sound guilty at all, more like satisfied she had more reasons to hurt Naruto.

They finally reached their room, wondering as to why it took too much time just to reach to their room. (The author coughs up.)

Yakushi Kabuto opened the door to his room, which was connected to Naruto and Asami's own. The fact that neither Naruto nor Asami had bothered to bring their own room key before they went out earlier that morning. They didn't have to worry about having intruders or thieves. Either to check on their belongings, or steal them. Not that they could really find anything to steal. All of their belongings were stored in scrolls, sealed away, only to appear when summoned with the smear of the owner's blood.

A very useful thing Naruto learned from the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya. The old pervert never did bring any luggage around, not even a sack.

Naruto was about to make his way to the couch when Asami suddenly stepped on his cloak, causing him to suddenly stop in his tracks, only a few steps away from the comfort of the leather seat.

"I suggest you go and change into something cleaner before doing anything else." pointed out Asami, still wearing her blue fox mask, as gave a tug on the dirt and dry mud covered cloak.

Naruto obeyed without a fret, not wanting to risk another hit. As he was about to take off his mask and hood when he noticed something. He saw their reflections on the television screen, which totally freaked and alerted him as a memory popped up in his mind.

"Wait. Don't take your masks off just yet." ordered Naruto in an all-commanding manner. Switching back into Itachi mode as what Kisame would call it.

The other three Sand-nins complied, being on high alert like their leader. Though they were wondering what was up, they didn't sense anyone's presence or notice any traps. The Kyuubi vessel on the other hand, opened the upside down pocket on his Jounin vest and let a scroll drop onto the floor. A paintbrush wisped out of nowhere into his hand, and he began writing down seals on the opened scroll. Under a brief period of time with the Legendary Toad Sannin, he learned a few things about seals. Before and after the whole Akatsuki incident, however, it was apparently clear that he was a quick learner after the Akatsuki training. A really quick one. In Jiraiya's opinion, the blonde haired shinobi was starting to show a few more similarities with his most prized student, the Yondaime Hokage. And it no longer was the blonde hair and stubborn attitude that the two shinobis shared in common.

Naruto finished the last line of seals, and summoned some chakra. The writings on the scroll crawled out like an army of ants onto the floor. They seem to disappear a few inches after trailing out into the surface. It was all too obvious that the three Sand-nins knew what their captain was up to.

"Another Fuinjutsu (Seal technique)?" asked Kabuto.

"More specifically, another barrier seal. I just remembered Tsunade has access to that Hokage crystal ball of hers." answered Naruto. He gave a sigh of relief, finally being able to take off his mask and dirty cloak off.

"Crystal ball?" pondered Kisame. "Why didn't you tell us earlier? Then we shouldn't have talk around."

Naruto clarified. "Hello? I said crystal ball, fish brain. It only shows images, it doesn't give out sound. So we're safe from having them eavesdropping upon our conversation."

Kisame, Kabuto, and Asami heard this and felt relieved.

"I always wondered how one would use such object." said Kabuto. "Just like those you see in the streets or shops. See the future--"

"No, not the future, the present. Anywhere as long as the place is here in shit-, I mean, Konoha." corrected Naruto. "It's more like used to look what's happening around the village. Though I remember the old man (The Third Hokage) telling me it very rarely used. I guess a Hokage wouldn't waste too much of his free time staring at some ball of glass, since there are other better things to be done. I remember catching Erro Sennin using it several times to peak into the women's hot springs and bath houses."

Asami walked into the master bedroom. She was about to enter the bathroom when she said. "Pervert."

"Not a surprise, coming from Jiraiya-sama." replied Kabuto. He was clean from any dirt whatsoever, unlike his three companions. Naruto had that 'mud sparring', he and Kisame got dragged a few feet on the road by Asami, and Asami probably had dirtied herself a little since she was going to take a bath.

The idea was confirmed when all three of them could hear the shower coming from behind the bathroom door moments later.

"I could use the shower myself." noted Naruto. He looked at the patches of dirt and mud, followed by a sniff at his own dirty clothes. "Hei Kabuto, if it's not much a trouble, could you lay out the stadium's plan or anything there is to be presented on the table right now? I want to start to the meeting as soon as possible. Right after this bath of mine."

"It would not be a trouble at all. Naruto-kun." noted Kabuto as he complied, and began presenting out scrolls and plans from his pockets and sleeves on to the tables, like magic.

Both Kabuto and Kisame watched as Naruto walked into and out of the master bedroom. He headed towards the other unoccupied toilet, with a toothbrush in his hand.

"What? The two of you are not taking your baths together?" joked Kisame with a sly sharky grin. "I think she could use your help in scrubbing her back."

Naruto gave a glare however Kisame just kept on smiling, challenging the Jinchuuriki further on. "Whatcha gonna do? Stab me with that toothbrush of yours?"

The blonde haired shinobi decided he'd let the shark free this time as he closed the bathroom door.

"Do you think Naruto-kun prefers the stadium's original blue prints or the town hall's own building plans, Kisame-san?" asked Kabuto in opinion as he set down several more scrolls on the table.

(Note: Kabuto always did call Naruto with the suffix –Kun since the starting of the Chuunin exams. Though this whole calling thing confuses me when girls tend to use more this suffix in calling boy's name such as by Hinata and Sakura as an example.)

"It doesn't matter, he'll take whatever you've got. I bet he's already expecting you to present both of them." replied Kisame without a bother as he sat down on the couch and flicked through the T.V channels. "I don't even want to know how those papers got into your hands in the first place."

Nothing big happened while the two ANBU Sand-nins waited for the couple to come and start the meeting. Except when Naruto came out of the bathroom and was on his way to the master bedroom. He already opened the door when Kisame turned from his seat, and looked the captain whom was wearing a white towel. He had a few scars around the body and arms, 'souvenirs' he'd received back when he didn't know about Kyuubi's existence and before he left Konoha. He was still wearing the necklace that once belonged to the First Hokage, a keepsake that was also a constant reminder of his grim life in Konoha. Naruto also had the proof of his membership in ANBU: The black ANBU tattoo could clearly be seen on the skin of his left upper arm bicep, which all four of them shared in common along with the rest of the ANBU members of Suna. The ANBU Leaf-nins had theirs tattooed on their right arms, different in design as the black tattoo had a twirling or spiral like design.

"Hei Naruto, don't you start fooling around in there." advised Kisame, thinking about how the love birds would get distracted meeting each other in their room while only wearing towels. "You lovebirds can do that after we're done with the meeting."

A kunai whizzed out from the tiny opening of the door, missing Kisame's right ear by a hair since the Samehada wielder managed to dodge at the very last second. It struck deep into the concrete wall right next to the television, and caused cracks a few inches long. Proof of power used in throwing the deadly projectile judging by how long the cracks on was and how deep the kunai had penetrated onto the concrete wall. Kabuto tried to look as busy as he can with the scrolls all over the table.

The perpetrator pushed the master bedroom door open. "Think you're all that funny, eh Kisame?"

The Ice mistress was currently drying her long, red hair with a towel using her left hand. With her right hand still straight out at Kisame, the one she had used in throwing the kunai. She was wearing black pants and a long sleeved coal, black shirt. Much how the average Konoha Jounin or Chuunin would look like without the green vest, kunai holster, and weapon's pouch. Naruto didn't care what she wore, heck she was best with she had nothing on, and she would still look beautiful in his eyes no matter what. With her hazel, brown eyes, right under the wild red hair that usually obscured her forehead. In Naruto's opinion, her hairstyle was a little mixture of Temari and Ayame's own. The drapes of untamed hair at the front much like Temari's, but how it would just beautifully trail down at the back like silk as of Ayame's. While in Kyuubi's opinion, she reminded the fox demon of vixens. The hazel brown eyes, wild hair nears the face, but then all too perfect at the back much like the fur of a fox's tail. Not to forget, the immense killing intent she could produce.

Naruto gave a sign of definite support as he gave Asami a quick kiss on her cheek. "Nice one. Missed him by a hair though."

The Kyuubi vessel went into the master bedroom, just as his lover threw her towel at the back of his head. Then taking her usual spot on the sofa.

"So you were really aiming for my ear?" asked Kisame as he observed the impact between the kunai and the wall. "May I remind you that I don't have super freakin cell regenerative abilities unlike demon boy and four eyes over here?"

"Kabuto could've fixed it either way." replied Asami. True, Kabuto could regenerate cells much like Kyuubi's, as he once displayed it after receiving Naruto's Rasengan. In comparison, Kabuto's rate was much slow and more chakra demanding. As of the fox demon, he didn't need to use too much chakra. Not that he cared, being the ultimate chakra source in the whole wide world. Mending wounds wasn't too much of a problem for him if compared to other medic-nins, since he could also use the same method of cell regeneration on a patient's body. Kabuto once told the three of them that he could transplant organs right in the battlefield, cut off chakra pathways in the body, and even sewing back parts of bodies like limbs or even a cut off ear. His three friends were impressed but also greatly irked at the same time when he managed to disguise a dead body as himself in front all three of them. Of course, this coming from Orochimaru's right hand man.

All in all, Kisame had tried his best effort to avoid such predicament in which Kabuto would have to sew his ear back together.

She gave a serious look while going through the blue prints of a stadium. "They're actually going to hold the final part of the Jounin exam right here?"

"It's just the perfect place." claimed Naruto as jumped on the sofa, landing beside Asami. With the same pitch black pants, but differed by wearing a plain maroon colored T-Shirt. "That snake's going to die right there in front of their eyes, and all those fools are going to twice before even considering about messing with the Sand."

"Going to show off all the tricks you've picked up over his three years of absence?" asked Kabuto as he pushed the bridge of his spectacles higher.

Kisame turned off the television and looked at the Jinchuuriki. "I hope you're not going to hog all the fun just for yourself."

"You said that you'd get to kill that bastard." pointed out Asami as she moved on the scrolls on the table. "That doesn't mean that we don't get to rough him up a little. I bet he'd wish he had died by our hands by the time you're half way done with him."

"Speaking of bets, I guess Tsunade-obachan still hasn't lost her touch at losing bets and gambling." smiled Naruto.

Kisame, Asami, and Kabuto instantly remembered Godaime (The Fifth) Hokage's words at the training area of Team 7.

"You? Itachi?" laughed Kisame as he looked at Naruto. "The first step is for you grow your hair long enough at tie it into a pony tail like Kabuto over here."

"She did get one right, the bet about Kisame." stated Kabuto. "I guess it's an improvement."

Asami raised an eyebrow, "What's the use? It's like in a slot machine where you just anything random in any slot."

Naruto pointed out in Tsunade's bet on Asami. "You were never a Snow missing-nin."

"That's because I was never a Snow-nin in the first place. I was never registered as one, Otou-san and I fled Snow Country long before I entered a ninja academy. Not that I needed one,"

"She was close enough then." murmured Kabuto.

"I wish Orochimaru would summon some dead Mizukage with that necromancy Jutsu of his." pondered Kisame as he moved on to another subject. The ex-Akatsuki member thinking how it would be all to good if the Mizukage turned out to be the same person why he betrayed Kirigakure in the first place. He did hear news of that particular Mizukage's death, apparently killed by his very own fellow advisors. "Then all of us get to have our own fair share of challenge and fun altogether."

"Shall we begin?" asked Kabuto.

Naruto nodded as he was once again in his hyper, dead serious, Itachi mode.

A young shinobi with different personalities, yet it all came to down to the very same person as to why he was granted the position as the highest ranking ANBU in Sunagakure. That, was just one of the many qualities that Asami discovered and loved about the young, blonde Jinchuuriki.

"Here's the plan……."

Elsewhere, two days ago off the shores on a remote island. 

"Why in the world does he have to live all the way here?" complained a certain white haired, legendary Sannin as he just pushed the wooden boat up shore.

Jiraiya settled down the boat on the white sandy beach, and walked towards the shaded parts under a tall tropical tree. He took out a piece of white folded paper from his pocket. "Uhmmmm…"

The Toad summoner narrowed his eyes, once again reading underneath of the underneath of the underneath that was written on the paper. Currently, he was slightly irritated. "The moment I see that boy's face, I'm so going give that boy a whack on the head. Between him and the Fourth, who else writes this kind of crackpot?"

Deep in his heart, he was proud after the student had once again surpassed the teacher. After destroying Akatsuki and returning Gaara back to Sunagakure, Naruto had once again continued his training with the Legendary Sannin. Though, they were now also accompanied with notorious S-Ranked shinobis. Naruto took an interest in learning everything he could about seals from the old hermit. Only a few weeks later after that, he was already creating his own set of seals. Jiraiya soon came to realize the young shinobi's true potential. He had the hunch when he saw Naruto using a variant in completing the First level training of the Rasengan. He had only came up with the weird idea simply because he saw a cat play around with his water balloon. He was like the Fourth, a total genius, coming up with ways or creating and mixing odd ways in performing Jutsus. What set him apart from the Fourth was his little knowledge of the demons.

Upon hearing from Naruto's 'teachers', Jiraiya came to know of Naruto's little creation of 'special' techniques. His own creation of jutsus that were already ranked as absolute Kinjutsu. It could simply be put down as benefits of being a Jinchuuriki. More specifically, the Jinchuuriki of the Youma Kitsune. He couldn't argue with the boy. The techniques were something that came up after mixing his understanding of the few granted demonic knowledge and ninja techniques. Jiraiya was a little bit worried upon the scary thought.

'What if he becomes just like Orochimaru?'

'Creating techniques, seals….'

'What if he was merely being toyed around by Kyuubi?'

The teacher of the Fourth Hokage feared the worse. He thought that he was slowly losing him, much like how he had lost the Fourth when he confronted Kyuubi. History was repeating itself all over again, but in a twisted manner. A teacher playing favorites, only to realize he'd realize his grave mistake when it was all too late. A new generation of the Legendary Sannin, the great summoners of toad, snake, and slug. A shinobi running away from his village, how he claimed how he was just misunderstood. The demon had taken away a blonde haired shinobi, the greatest one of his time. It was going to repeat all over again.

When Jiraiya thought back all that happened.

He knew he was wrong.

He was glad indeed that he was wrong.

True, Sarutobi had picked favorites and was proud of his prized student. Only to came to realize his big mistake in doing such. Orochimaru over him and Tsunade. Pretty much like how Kakashi did, Sasuke over Naruto and Sakura. Orochimaru fleeing Konoha, again as how it occurred with Sasuke. How Naruto too left Konoha much like Jiraiya. How two of the three Legendary Sannin had left Konohagakure. Then, Kyuubi's rampage finally finding it way to Konoha. Even Naruto came to realize what his teacher was thinking, after watching his teacher behaving very odd for several days.

It was all too similar.

Then again, it was all too different.

Naruto left for a different reason. Naruto wasn't going to be like Orochimaru. He didn't go create his own village, to come back, and destroy Konoha he so hated. He was nothing like Orochimaru. He had a someone he loved, very little friends, very small number he would call as family, put that up and that would grow in numbers drastically. He just needed time to heal. He might not be the same ever again, but that was enough. He still had it in him, to change people around him. He had people he wanted to protect, not to destroy. Much to Jiraiya and Gamabunta's heavy disappointment, Naruto decided to nullify his contract with the frogs. Not that he really wanted to, but they all understood his intentions. Well, it took some explaining and some fights for Gamabunta to fully understand, but in the end the frog boss did. There wasn't going to be a new generation of snake, slug, and toad summoners that belonged to the same team. He didn't want that. Not in his time, if that was least he could change about it.

Still, Jiraiya was still sad upon seeing his student's behavior. He wouldn't trust a person. He didn't want to. He didn't want to risk it all over again much like he how did it back in Konohagakure. How could he trust anyone? The person he'd never would think of, one that he fully trusted himself, had broken it all. His trust, his belief, in people. Including the fact how a person would shun him away the moment they know what he will bear as a burden for a lifetime. He could just keep Kyuubi as a secret, but then he'd wake up everyday and go lying in their faces, lying to himself all over again.

Those problems finally lead Jiraiya to the idea of convincing Naruto join the Sand. He'd get a fresh start. A second chance in life. Besides, he had a 'brother' there. One that he trusted. Gaara was someone who could act as a base or starting point in helping Naruto to trust people again. Plus the fact that the entire population of Sunagakure knew about the whole Jinchuuriki predicament since they had Gaara. They weren't like Konoha the young generation didn't simply follow their parents unknowingly like a flock of sheep. Not everyone would share the same idea, different opinions arise from different people. It's just how people are, different from one another. Slowly, they'd come to the conclusion. All of them knew about the truth, and they had came to realize how a Jinchuuriki wasn't the very demon they had sealed in them. And Jiraiya was relieved for that.

"Yup. It's this one alright." confirmed Jiraiya as he folded back the paper and stored it in his net shirt. He laughed and talked to himself in delight, "No matter how intricate a message is, there's nothing that can baffle the awesome, great mind of the Legendary Sannin, JIRAIYA!"

Apparently, he didn't expect a tiny crab and a seagull being there to see his foolishness. He wondered if the two creatures fled away in fright or was ashamed to be there to see such poor sight.

The toad hermit walked for over half an hour in the dense tropical forest, and he was beginning to doubt himself as time flew by. Just when he leaned over a tree to get some rest, something small dropped down from canopy of leaves above. Being both a strong shinobi and a legendary Sannin at the same time, the old pervert had already knew about the thing that was about to fall on him. He only saw a furry tail from under the pile of disrupted dead leaves. He was thinking of a mammal, a squirrel? A small monkey perhaps? His questions were answered when the furry little animal scurried out into view.

It was a weasel.

A weasel with dark brown colored fur from head to tail.

Which the Sannin definitely knew it was no weasel at all. A weasel that had been climbing up tall trees, only to land easily on the layer of dead leaves on the forest floor. The hermit even wondered if weasels could even climb trees all the way to the top. His suspicions were confirmed the moment the weasel just stood having a good look at him, instead of running off in fear.

It was a weasel until the mammal just suddenly burst into smoke. It was nothing more but a henge, with the infamous murderer of the Uchiha clan now stood in its place as the smoke cleared. The former Akatsuki member wasn't wearing an ANBU uniform or an Akatsuki cloak. He was just wearing the average civilian type of clothes, nothing fancy or any shinobi looking. He still had that serious, up tight, broody face of his, something that Naruto had inherited a little, besides the various teachings of all ninja techniques in becoming a very powerful ninja.

The two shinobis stared one another.

Jiraiya smiled. "Living up to your name, eh, Itachi (weasel)?"

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Okay, people. You know the drill, RATE AND REVIEW! I know there is not action or nothing much interesting going on in this one. I guess you people are kind of disappointed in reading this one after waiting over two weeks. I'm really sorry about this. 


	12. Between friends

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.

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This is one last part before the action begins. Thanks again to all of those who have sent me reviews. I appreciated every single one of them. Sorry for the slow update. Anyways, I was pissed with myself, after checking my previous chapters to find that there were a few spelling errors. I decided to fix the few glitches, the upcoming chapters will be worth the long wait. Hope you enjoy!

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There they were, standing with their eyes locked on the other. The famous, legendary Toad Sannin and the infamous, Uchiha clan murderer. Each with their own aura of power. Jiraiya was waiting for Itachi to say or do something in return, but Itachi just kept on looking at him. Jiraiya thought the condition was playing out rather fine since Itachi didn't just moved in for an attack, and start casting Jutsus or anything. 

Itachi finally spoke, "Jiraiya."

Jiraiya was very pleased with himself, since the Uchiha had acted very much like how he thought he would.

"Uchiha Itachi," replied Jiraiya like it was first time the two met in recognition.

"We should move before we talk any further," continued Itachi before leaping up onto the branches above exactly where Jiraiya saw him 'falling'.

"Move?"

Jiraiya didn't expect this one coming, since he thought that the Uchiha would go down straight to business, talk whatever there is to talk, right on the spot. He just followed Itachi without a word. The two shinobis tree hopped for a whole half an hour straight, Jiraiya noticed along the way that the scene around him was changing. It was getting slightly darker as less sunlight penetrated through the roof of leaves above. The trees were getting bigger, from swamp green vines to the dirt brown tree barks. He could barely hear the sound of various insects like crickets or cicadas, much less the chirping of birds anymore. Occasionally hearing the ranting of monkeys or slithering snakes here and there.

Itachi still remained silent, and finally came to a stop one particular tree. Simply by looking at it, it was just as tall and old as the rest of the trees around.

"Why talk here?" asked Jiraiya in curiousity. The two could've simply talk anywhere else, but as why his acquaintance decided to talk here, he didn't know. "You live here or something?"

Itachi remained quite, moved near to the bark of the tree, and placed his hand into the small hole. Jiraiya could hear the rustling of leaves, probably some animal's nest inside he thought. Then, he sensed the presence of chakra coming from the tree. Itachi gave a second glance at Jiraiya before walking straight into the tree.

The Toad summoner moved in. "Genjutsu, huh?"

He was even more surprised when he saw a tree house right after passing through the illusionary wall.

"Hei…nice. Real nice." complimented Jiraiya.

Several minutes later, the Toad Hermit found himself sitting cross-legged with the Uchiha while drinking some green tea.

"How long has it been since we last saw each other?" wondered Jiraiya after a sip.

The great author of the Icha Icha chronicles remembered it perfectly like it happened yesterday. Around two months since he and Naruto had left Konohagakure, they were at Lightning Country. Handling the young Jinchuuriki wasn't much of a problem than he thought it would. Maintaining a low profile was very easy since Naruto took every chance he could get to avoid walking into villages, towns, or cities. Jiraiya monitor his training, go down to do his 'research', buying the necessary supplies every now and then, to the info gathering: either from brothels, pubs, etc.

Leaving Naruto all to himself in some forest, which he didn't complain one bit. In fact, that was the very main reason he wanted to Konoha in the first place. He wanted to be alone, away from anyone as long as he could. Naruto would train once in a while just as Jiraiya ordered, either that or return back to Konoha. It was a simple routine both made and followed for the past two months. That was until all nine members of the Akatsuki decided to make their appearance and captured Naruto.

"One year, three months, two weeks and six days." specified Itachi as he looked at the scratch marks left on a bamboo wall.

"Didn't know you'd be the sort of person that kept such track of time." replied Jiraiya. His smile grew wider.

Again, Itachi reacted the way what Jiraiya thought he would.

"Not really." simply answered Itachi. The young Uchiha already knew what this was all about the moment he spotted Jiraiya from above.

"Hide it all you want, but I know deep down that you're curious as to how all of them are doing." said Jiraiya as he watch steam rising from the bamboo mug.

"Don't need to. I can already guess how they're doing in Sunagakure." countered Itachi.

"Knowing all four of them, they probably had registered themselves into Suna's ANBU division."

Jiraiya was impressed, Itachi continued on "Kabuto would follow around those three anywhere they'd go. I don't even have to talk about Asami, seeing how Naruto and her are going. Kisame's hunger for challenges and fighting could be satisfied if he takes in S-Ranked missions. Only special Jounins and ANBU members are certified to receive those types of missions of difficult missions. Naruto would have different reasons for becoming an ANBU Sand-nin. Being ANBU members, they're the least known type of shinobis that would mix around with a lot people. Too busy with missions, and their identities are kept as secrets from the public. In general, the public wouldn't know too much about him. Being Naruto, the less things people would know about him, the better. He easily gets missions that don't involve too much contact with the public.

"I know what you mean. In general: no public services whatsoever." agreed Jiraiya. He had to admit, Itachi was indeed one very observant type of person. In fact, he was the one that came up with the idea and managed on how to lure Jiraiya away from Naruto. How easily it was when Jiraiya would leave Naruto at some inn, while the perverted Sannin decides to go out with some beautiful lady around town.

Public services he mentioned was just the missions like babysitting, escorting, pet handling: dog walking, finding lost pets, farming, picking litter, etc. In Naruto's case, the escorting only just any C or A-Ranked mission. He didn't usually get to escort Gaara around since the Kazekage didn't travel out of Sunagakure much. Wind Country hosted the Chuunin and Jounin exams while Naruto was in service of Suna. The Kyuubi vessel wasn't stupid to just linger around town while shinobis would come into Suna.

"He still avoids people whenever he can, but I'm sure he'll slowly recover little by little in time." sighed Jiraiya.

Itachi knew Naruto's predicament and why he acted such. It was wonder how Itachi only came to know him up close for some time, but managed to know how his student would go on with his life. "He's afraid of people shunning him away all over again, just like what happened in Konoha. How he wishes for people to accept him for who he is, not Kyuubi that's inside him. He knows people would treat him just like anyone else, like a human being, after living amongst his teammates and the rest of shinobis from his generation."

"So?"

"Kyuubi is now a part of him, that changes more things. It's a drastic change, Jiraiya. Kyuubi isn't just a bijou sealed in a Jinchuuriki anymore. Regretfully, the people in Konoha already hated him simply because the Kyuubi sealed inside him. They never got to know that Naruto isn't the very demon sealed inside him, let alone treat Naruto like a person. How do you think they would react the moment they know Kyuubi is now a part of Uzumaki Naruto?"

Both shinobis know the troublesome agenda that their ex-student has. For Naruto to keep this thing a secret, he'd be repeating everything he'd ever done in Konoha. Everyday single day: Lying to himself and to those whom that didn't know about Kyuubi. To live out a lie, something most people don't like doing.

"So you think that letting him becoming an ANBU member solves the problem?" asked Itachi.

"Indirectly, he's slowly socializing with people around. Being a very persuasive man that I am, I managed to get Gaara and the rest of the Village Council members to team up that stubborn kid with other ANBU members every now and then." answered Jiraiya proudly. A very persuasive man, since managed to set up a whole spying network and gather informations from complete strangers, it was a skill he'd sharpened over the years of traveling.

The Sharingan wielder caught on. "Clever. No matter what, Naruto would have to bear responsibility for the lives of the ANBU Sand-nins in his group."

"Nothing makes a person wonder especially after someone you judged wrong, saves your own life." added Jiraiya. "S-Ranked missions are very dangerous, shinobis lose their lives more in performing them than any other missions."

Itachi was reminded of his days serving as an ANBU member. "A service, a sense of commitment and patriotism in some, a sense of honor in others, others seek the challenges and test themselves to their limits, while some just take it for the amount of reward they get in the end."

"ANBU captain. Just like how you were. At a truly young age, holding such high position, you were only thirteen years old back then." compared Jiraiya.

"No matter what you do, it still doesn't change the fact that he will always hate those people back in Konohagakure." reminded Itachi, taking another sip.

"True…True…" agreed Jiraiya with a little regret. "The best thing I could do was to at least make sure that he's an ally to Konoha. I don't really like to admit it, but Naruto isn't one shinobi that you would want him to live a vagrant life. Tsunade that used to travel around aimlessly was one thing, but that boy is a whole different agenda. It would a pity to leave him that way, just like Tsunade."

"That and the fact that he's too powerful and dangerous."

"I guess sometimes he scares you a little too, huh?" asked Jiraiya in opinion.

Itachi nodded, "Yes, he does."

"You passed him down more than your teachings and list of jutsus. He's just like you in almost everyway now: very cautious around people, silent, and a very sharp observant." assessed Jiraiya. "It amazes me how you've taught so much in such a short time."

Itachi stared at his guest. "One year isn't what one would short."

Jiraiya tried to recall the moments when he talked to Kisame about the things Naruto had learned. "True. However, for him to learn all of those things, any shinobi would how a mere boy could learn and control various elemental techniques. I'm still baffled, about Naruto doesn't possess the Sharingan or belong to the Uchiha clan. Neither he, Asami, or had Kisame told me how he does it. Ninjutsus and seals…Kisame himself asked me if may be there was slim possibility that Naruto had at least the blood of an Uchiha, or perhaps some sort of unknown blood limit that enables to easily learn and control Jutsus."

"He doesn't." Itachi muttered in a stoic tone. "It isn't some special ability or influence by Kyuubi. He doesn't carry the blood of an Uchiha, or possess a bloodline limit."

"From how you said it, I take it you know how he did it?" wondered Jiraiya.

"I do." smirked Itachi with a sense of triumph, being able to outsmart a Sannin. "It's his great ability to understand and control Kyuubi's chakra that makes him that he is now."

Jiraiya was a little puzzled and astounded as his current state. Itachi wasn't half of the Jiraiya's age, how he spent his time with Naruto less than the Sannin did, the Uchiha was definitely a genius among geniuses.

"Tell me, what do you know about Kyuubi's chakra?"

"It's red, anyone could feel a sense of wickedness coming the chakra…" answered Jiraiya. It was like he's the one sitting down as a student, Itachi being the teacher.

"It's unstable. The chakra is exceptionally unstable. If it weren't for the Fourth's seals, Naruto would've died if he kept using it over and over. It's a demon's form of energy."

"He doesn't have the Elephant Seal and double layered Four Season Seal anymore." pointed out Jiraiya.

"That's why Kyuubi had to teach Naruto how to control his chakra. Back then, we thought the seal was weakening, due to the strain of continuous and various seals Sakai performed. The moment it would break, both Naruto and Kyuubi dies. Think how enormous amounts of chakra flowing without control since both are unable to do anything, as the body would disintegrates from inside. Something both didn't look forward to."

Jiraiya tried to imagine the horrific scene, but stopped before Itachi would add one more details.

"We didn't come to know of his education on controlling the chakra. Kisame, Raetsu, and I came to notice how he started learning Jutsus like he was swallowing bowls of ramen, after several weeks later. We knew it had to be something to do with Kyuubi's teachings. Kyuubi told only me the reason why, Naruto had learned to achieve perfect chakra control. Down to the smallest bit, extreme precision in any amount. Learning Jutsus that require chakra was nothing more but to learn how to manipulate and convert them into any other form."

"Chakra to fire, water, ground, and so on." elaborated Jiraiya. "You even taught him the Uchiha fire techniques."

Itachi kept going. "To him, it's not a matter of needing a source of water to perform a Suiton (Water Element) anymore. Like Kisame and the Second Hokage, they could just convert their own chakra into water."

"Naruto still had to take time in learning any technique," commented Jiraiya.

Itachi frowned. "He maps them down. Separate down a technique down to scratch, the number of seals, its sequence, how it actually works, find any possible flaw,

"He may not be a natural born shinobi, but let's not to forget he is a different kind of clever person. Not the book smart type…it's more like--"

"His mind's capabilities don't work simply by memorizing down some text off books. He's cunning, not surprisingly just like a fox's own. Having the greatest trickster of the whole world as your teacher." said Itachi.

"Exactly. However, I've heard that he's well known as a prankster way before he knew about Kyuubi existence inside him. I don't care whether it was from Kyuubi's influence or just coincidental." discussed Jiraiya.

Again he was quiet, staring into the small reflection on the surface of his green tea. He chuckled all alone, something that made Itachi wonder what was going through that mind of his.

"Care to share the thought?" asked Itachi.

"It's really funny when you think about it, how some of the most powerful men would eventually succumb to the beauty of women." answered Jiraiya. "You know what who and what I mean right?"

"Fuusetsu (Snowstorm) Asami." smirked Itachi as he recalled Asami's full name. It rhymed perfectly with her father's name, Fuusetsu Raetsu. He thought about idea of those two being together. "I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes, I think Naruto would either succumb to her looks, or to her strength."

Jiraiya laughed out loud, it took him a while to stop. He actually cried out a tear, from laughing too much. "Ahahaha…I couldn't have said it better myself. To tell you the truth, that kunoichi doesn't carry that name anymore. Fuusetsu Asami 'died' on the same day she joined Sunagakure. "

"So she changed her name?"

"Yup." Jiraiya took another sip of green tea.

"What do they call her?"

"Asami. Uzumaki Asami." answered Jiraiya all too happily.

The Sannin added to the sudden possibilities that was currently was occupying Itachi's mind. He scratched off one of the possibilities down, "She didn't have that name changed in acting as Naruto's sister, so that she could live with him together."

Itachi just rested the back of his head on the wall behind him, surprised, looking at the ceiling of his tree house. "So Naruto finally gathered the courage to pop up the question…"

"I didn't know he was really the romantic type, not for his standard. He proposed her on the very same day the two, along with Kisame and Kabuto, got their Suna head protectors and were officially announced as Sand-nins. You should've seen him on that day, it was like he couldn't be any happier." said Jiraiya recalling the memories.

The Sharingan wielder was curious, "What do you mean by 'romantic'?"

"Why the sudden interest? I didn't know you had a sensitive side." replied Jiraiya.

"Hei, you're the author of the most famous perverted, romance novel. I would like to at least know how an old man such as yourself would come in terms of saying the most thick headed shinobi around be a romantic sort." justified Itachi with a faint hint of anger.

"You'd be surprised that he's just as good as in making things romantic, very much how he comes up with those incredible jutsus of his. I mean, imagine you living in a place where there's no walks around lakes, rivers, or ponds, special trees like a Sakura (cherry-blossom) tree around to sit under. I like to see you come up with something good under such limitations."

"You still haven't answered my question." pointed out Itachi. "By the way, I think he'd rather ask the question under a date tree, dead tree, or no tree at all if he has to choice between that or a cherry-blossom tree. It just reminds him of this Konoha girl with the name Sakura."

"What wouldn't? She's a kunoichi with pink hair like a cherry-blossom flower, green eyes, and with the name Haruno Sakura (Spring of Cherry Blossom)." added Jiraiya.

"That's not the point, we're drifting off the subject." stated Itachi in realization. "Just how did Naruto propose Asami?"

"Well, I wasn't actually there to see it. But he explained it only after I wouldn't stop pester him and kept asking him. Naruto took out Asami to dinner, nothing fancy really. You know she is with any matter that concerns about money, even if someone's paying. Besides, both of them are not the high class, luxury sort of--"

Itachi gave a cold glare, though not activating his Sharingan at all.

"Sorry. Now, as I was saying, he took her out for a little walk right after everything was over. They weren't strolling down through forests or besides any river, lake like I was saying earlier. The two just walked under the night sky, right in the desert, harsh cold temperatures. Naruto said it was perfect, all alone with her, away from the village lights, how it was a terrific scene to gaze up to the sky filled with clusters of shining stars, like scattered diamonds--. "

"I take it you wrote down all the things on what he said into that silly notebook of yours, and then added a few here and there." commented Itachi, which was all too obvious.

"Okay, fine, he brought her down to a walk at the desert after dinner. He gave his jacket to wear, even though we all know how she doesn't mind the cold being a Snow-nin and all, express his love to her, and then drops down on one knee, braced himself and then gave her a very nice present in her hand in marriage."

"That was too sketchy," scowled Itachi. He kept the hard cold eyes, "Since you're you, when you meant 'express his love', do you mean sharing his feelings and thoughts out with her, or having sex with her right there on the desert?"

"I meant sharing his feelings," answered Jiraiya. "I never liked him calling me 'Erro Sennin', either when we're training, with Asami, Kabuto and Kisame. Especially not when we were in public. Totally messes up my reputation. Though the last one was a very rare occasion for him to walk into any town or village,"

Itachi asked further, "Naruto gave her a ring?"

"Ring? No…he gave her something else. You'd be surprised. It's actually a necklace, very much the same like the one he has. It has the identical shape and size, along with the pearls on both sides. The only difference is that the crystal is red in color, he said it's some ruby crystal he got off from his 'father'. You know what I mean, Itachi. I bet its worth would be just as the same as necklace of his, probably more. If you consider the fact that it's a rare precious stone found in another realm." said Jiraiya.

"He should be thankful we managed to change his thick, idiotic personality during that training." Itachi counted the years knowing Naruto, Asami, and the time they get to spend together. "Naruto finally did it, I thought he'd taken more time in making that decision."

"Here I thought you were going to say it's too early for him." replied Jiraiya.

"No. If you count the time, they have spent more than enough time to really get to know one another. She'd come up down to Naruto's prison cell, and exchange stories way before we even came with the idea of training. Naruto's maturity is much too ahead for someone his age, a different scale compared to the average young shinobi to grow up and learns to kill and learn the hardships of life. Having a bijou as a burden and suffer loneliness at a very young age can change one's self. Only another Jinchuuriki will know exactly how another feels."

"Hei, I only thought you're going to react the opposite way. That doesn't mean I didn't agree about him marrying Asami. I agree with you there, he is too matured even for his age. I guess that aged body of his does go with that mind of his."

Itachi drank some of his green tea. "Kyuubi made the right choice in choosing to age his body a little. Tell me, how'd the marriage go?"

"It wasn't big at all, on the contrary, very few people even came to the marriage ceremony. It was…how do say this…an interesting one. The only people present were of course Gaara, his two siblings, me, Kisame, and Kabuto."

"A private wedding?" noted Itachi in realization. "Secret wedding?"

"Yeah, but I'm not finished yet. We were also greeted along with the presence of Naruto's adopted family. There we were, along with foxes the size of Gamabunta altogether. Just when I thought it couldn't get anymore…interesting…other types of foxes showed up. It was like a gathering of the leader of the clans in Konoha, each one of them presented to Naruto's father. What spooked me a little more was when the Kyuubi manifested himself, and chatted around in fox language with the other foxes. I wasn't the only one, since Kabuto and Kisame were like sweating a little. In the end, that boy said that the only thing that would've made everything perfect was if you were there to see him" finished Jiraiya.

Itachi remained stoic as he possible could, however Jiraiya knew something was stirring up inside him. Perhaps it was a sense of guilt?

"He can hold a secret wedding, but in the end, everyone in Sunagakure knows about their relationship. Living together in the same house, how the ANBU members they work close with eventually knew the thing between those two. You'd be surprised how some people give out rumours that they were young shinobis in love, and fled their villages to elope."

The super pervert stopped for a moment, he had a lecherous smile as he blushed, "Well, you know what happens on that very night of their wedding. Kisame and I were like nudging and discussing the endless possibilities how it'd turn out. Hehehehe…Let's just say he finally made use on my birth control seals and jutsus."

Jiraiya's face blushed even redder as he stared off. He always wondered how it would've played out, even until now. He though up in his mind. 'With that stamina of his…not to mention how great Asami looks…heck Kyuubi probably gave him a few pointers or something in experience...'

Itachi knew what was going through that perverted mind of his.

He took out the small notepad he'd carry around to jot down anything that's usually things from his spy network or more ideas for his upcoming books.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "I suggest you'd stop that."

"Why's that? It's not like he'll ever find out, since he doesn't read my books at all. I've manage to publish a new book only recently, though it didn't contain anything to with him or Asami." explained Jiraiya. He gave a heavy sigh, "I need new materials you know, it's hard coming up with ideas when you stay at a place where there's no such thing as a public bath. I managed to get only some while on the way coming here. Anyway, I've only put a few things. Put it all up from the whole book, it'd only be at least a page."

"It's for your own safety, they would find out eventually. You're really lucky I haven't done anything yet, for that matter. Remember, he was your student as he was mine." warned Itachi. He still didn't have his eyes change into the Sharingan, "A man of your age should have at least know to have the decency or know when to draw up the line."

Jiraiya thought of the possible aftermaths, and finally succumbed. "Fine. Fine."

The Toad Sannin scratched off the few sentences he wrote down earlier. If anyone would flip back through several pages of the hand held notebook, the upcoming book already had its title written down.

Special Edition

Icha Icha Chaos: Engagement ring, Wedding ring, and Suffering.

Sasuke's brother slowly stood up at gathered the empty bamboo mugs that used to have green tea in them. He left the room without a word, leaving Jiraiya all alone in the room. The solitude didn't last long enough for the Sannin since Itachi came back pretty much after less than five minutes flew by. He didn't sit down, just looked out the wild scenery just right outside his small window, and with the whole tension in the air seem to change.

"I take it you didn't come all the way here just to check or idly chat with me."

"No, I didn't." replied Jiraiya. "It's about you."

Itachi didn't bother to see Jiraiya even when he was talking right at him. He knew his guest wasn't offended at all, "It's useless, Jiraiya. The answer is still no."

"What…? I didn't even ask anything." The fifty three year old shinobi didn't know what to do.

Itachi elaborated in a stoic manner. "You were going to ask it anyways. Naruto did, Asami, even Kisame did."

"Aah, but I didn't." Jiraiya thought convincing him wasn't going too easy. In fact everyone he'd try to convince anything were never easy, they were all really hardheaded and stubborn like donkeys. Prime examples: The Fourth, Tsunade, and Naruto.

Jiraiya was all too excited in his mind, 'you forget, I had that stubborn Arashi and Naruto as my students. Cracking you might not be as hard as cracking those two, but this definitely still going to take the time and effort.'

"I know you'd eventually come down and ask me personally. The answer is still no, Jiraiya." repeated Itachi. "I won't join Suna, any other village, let alone Konoha for that matter."

"Why not? I know there's no way in the world you'd consider returning back to Konoha. But why not consider Suna? You'd be just like Naruto, get a whole new chance to start up all over again." argued Jiraiya, now standing up.

"Well, Naruto deserved it. I don't. His life was messed up the day he was born, while mine wasn't. It was going perfectly, one would dream to live the way I did. But I chose to mess up my life." debated Itachi in justification.

Itachi's guest smiled, behind Itachi. _'This may not be as difficult as I thought it would.'_

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto sat down on a one-seated couch while Kisame was found sitting across his captain. All four of them had finished their meeting minutes ago, since now they were free to do whatever they please. Already four in the morning, it would only a few more hours before they'd be down at the stadium to execute their plan. Naruto and Kisame had chosen to spend their time by having a look over their weapons. It's what Asami and Kabuto would say quality time between two swordsman and their beloved weapons of mass destruction. Two buckets of water, and a block of whetstone on the table were right there. 

In other words, their swords were getting a check up.

Naruto had his set of twin blades summoned, while Kisame merely took off the white strips of cloth that covered Samehada. It would take the same or more amount of time to look over Samehada when compared with two katanas. Samehada, a sword around six to seven feet long, covered in numerous gray sharp scales, no hand guard that separates between the hilt and the blade, with a skull at the end of its hilt. Naruto's set of blades didn't look as deadly or powerful in comparison with Samehada. They were nothing more but a two average looking katanas, they only differed in terms of color of the hilt. They were just red in color, with the name of the swords smith and the place engraved on the metallic surface that was encased to make the hilt. The katanas looked plain average, but for having Kisame as one of Naruto's teacher, they had names and didn't have the guard that separated the hilt and the blade.

"Which one did you use to cut that Uchiha's forehead protector? Rikimaru or Kirimaru?" asked Kisame while giving Samehada a wash for no reason.

Naruto was currently sharpening the sword with a long block of whetstone, this sword he always held with his left hand. "Kirimaru."

"You could've at least leave that ex-teammate of yours with a scar." suggested Kisame with a sharky grin. "That cut you gave him wasn't deep enough. Can't believe you weren't cold enough to tarnish that face of his. Either you went all 'not worth the effort' or you're just getting sloppy with your sword techniques."

Naruto had that annoyed face. "Not funny, Kisame. That Sasuke-teme would have probably cry like a baby and scowl even more than he usually does if he finds out his face is ruined by a small scar on the forehead."

"Bah! Like you don't sulk around in public." Kisame laughed a little, like he always did.

Naruto frowned. "I don't scowl."

"Suit you yourself." Kisame pointed out his Samehada with one hand easily like it was nothing more but a kunai, at Kabuto. Orochimaru's ex-right hand man was going through some scrolls on the small dining table.

"Don't even try." warned Naruto without being bothered to look at what his friend was up to.

"Too late." mused Kisame in delight as Kabuto felt faint traces of chakra from his own reserve being drained away by Samehada. Kabuto already knew this was coming when he had a feeling Samehada pointing in his way.

The sword hummed a little in Kisame's hand since the chakra the sword clearly wasn't enough. It would vibrate and could emit crunching sounds if it managed to eat a huge amount of chakra. Samehada had a limit as to how much chakra it could eat, since neither have Kabuto, Naruto, or Asami had ever seen someone die out of chakra exhaustion due to the sword. Kisame hummed some tune that Naruto also heard when he was about to place a part of Samehada into a small bucket of water, giving it a wash. The shark face shinobi was about to scrub his sword with, seeing as it would be stupid to use a sponge to rub against a sharp scaly surface.

Naruto already had the fingers of his free hand ready.

FLICK.

"Hei!" reacted Kisame after he saw the water in the bucket now frozen solid. Samehada looked like an ice-cream stick, as it now stood upright without Kisame's support.

Naruto decided to flick again after seeing Kisame's disapproving look, despite the fact that Kisame knew why the Kyuubi vessel did it in the first place.

"I warned you." told Naruto.

The ice inside the bucket changed back into water in an instant. The ex-Swordsman of the Mist took hold of his precious sword and continued on like nothing happened. Kisame just gave his trademark sharky grin as Naruto just gave his won foxy grin. Kisame bared all the sharp saw like shark teeth he had, with his incisors and canine teeth were all like a shark's tooth. Naruto only bared his slightly longer canine teeth, obviously beaten in appearance by Kisame's own set of teeth.

Several minutes later, Kisame had cleared up his stuff and took Samehada back into his room, probably going to get the few hours of sleep available just like Asami did.

"You didn't have to do that." said Kabuto as he pushed the bridge of his glasses. He was too immersed in going through the scrolls and plans that his glasses were about to fall down. Naruto always wondered if he was far sighted or near sighted, whether he didn't bother of taking them off even if he was near sighted.

Naruto moved on to his other katana, holding Rikimaru with his right hand. "And he didn't have to use Samehada to suck your chakra."

"The chakra amount wasn't even noticeable, Naruto-kun. It'd been better if you gave the chakra you spent to Samehada than freezing the water from that bucket." said Kabuto, looking at Sand ANBU captain.

Naruto put down the now sharpened Rikimaru down and watched as it disappeared in a small puff of smoke. "Hei, if you didn't notice, I was actually sticking up for you. You should a little more appreciative."

Seeing as how Naruto could continue this until all four of them would have to go meet Gaara, Kabuto decided to do better things and continue on with his scrolls. "Okay then, thank you."

The ANBU captain got up from his seat, seeing as he had finished with both of his katanas, and began putting away the bucket of water and whetstone. Naruto went back to his room, probably checking on his wife, though he considered that she was probably fast asleep. It was pitch black since the lights weren't turned on. He never did sleep because of exhaustion anymore, seeing as how Kyuubi's red chakra could rejuvenate his body. Since his body's alterations, sleeping had always been just a need of being any ordinary human being and getting his mind to rest. He was a little bit surprised when he found her gazing through the window. They didn't have to worry about having their covers blown since Naruto usually placed seals around every place they stayed. Either Sound proof barriers, sound being able to travel in but not out (as earlier mentioned in chapter 3), or one-way glass windows…

He walked slowly, reaching her without making much of a sound. However, he knew that his wife already came to know of his presence since he opened the door.

"Hei." said Naruto as he held around Asami's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder from behind.

Asami turned a slightly to give a kiss on his cheek. "Hei."

"Couldn't sleep?" asked Naruto, enjoying every moment.

"After hearing you're crazy plan? I think not." answered Asami as she turned back, looking at the dark skies above. There weren't many stars to look at since there were large clouds obscuring them.

Naruto knew exactly what she was looking at. "Something's bothering you?"

Asami played around, seeing as she now had Naruto's full attention. "A lot of things. You spending your time with those swords of yours."

Naruto's hold loosen a little, "After all those times, you only complain about them now?"

"I was joking, silly." replied Asami. She took hold of Naruto's hands, pulling them together over her navel, gesturing him to hold tighter.

He could easily smell the sweet scent of Asami's red hair, which made Naruto wonder what brand of shampoo every time he smelled it.

The kunoichi heave a sigh "Watching the stars here isn't as good as in Suna."

"No, it's not." said Naruto as he too looked up to the heaven above. "There are clouds blocking, we're not in the middle of the desert you know."

"I miss the place already," whispered Asami. "That sandy sensation under the feet, there's not a single cloud in the sky, the chilling cold of the air at night…"

"Well at least we're still keeping ourselves warm." said Naruto, barely a whisper at Asami's ear. "Want me to drop down on one knee and ask if you'd marry me again?"

"May be another time." smiled Asami, Naruto seeing her reflection from the glass window.

Naruto gave a quick kiss on Asami's cheek, "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do, why ask?" Raetsu's daughter asked back.

"Oh nothing, just wanted to say that I love you." answered Naruto.

Asami looked at one star, "Here I am, the place where a lot of things took place. You grew up but then never called it home. It's the place where Kyuubi was sealed, where you were born, lived, and in the end left. Itachi killed everyone in his clan here, only leaving his brother alive. You met Gaara here for the Chuunin exams, right?"

"Yup. Though he was just a killing psychopath but then," Naruto teased the Kazekage in remembrance.

Asami turned around in her husband's arms and looked him in the eyes, "And you were some hyperactive, loudmouth, trouble making-"

Naruto hugged her slightly tighter, closing in the space between them, and just kissed her in the lips all of a sudden, taking her by surprise as usual. She liked it when she gets to surprise people, however she didn't like it when people surprise.

Well, except Naruto.

She closed her eyes and returned the kiss, with her hands slowly making way up and around his neck. They'd never get bored even if they'd repeat the same sequence over and over again. And again, Asami was the one to pull away from the kiss in need of air.

Naruto flashed his foxy grin, "You were saying?"

"You always think you're all that, every time after a kiss in shutting me up," huffed Asami in return. "or when I get angry."

"Of course I am," replied Naruto as he ran his hand through Asami's hair.

Asami looked up a little, since the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was only a few inches taller than her. She touched Naruto's left cheek, gently holding and caressing over the skin that had the whisker marks. "It's a shame only a few people get to know the 'real' you."

"I'll try to change when we come back to Suna," replied Naruto. "May be I'll start mingling with people around."

Asami was glad, grinning in delight.

"Scratch that, may be just between us ANBU members. I don't want to end up like Gaara's current state." shuddered Naruto in thought. How Girls shrieking in delight whenever they could lay their eyes on the Kazekage. Kankurou did say how they'd go with the cool, high-ranking types.

"In your dreams, people in Suna already know about us being together. Living together in the same place, going out for dinner, buying groceries, patrol guards seeing us on our occasional walks out in the desert at night. If they knew you were single, I think Hirami and other women would go all love struck just like they do with Gaara." chuckled Asami.

"After what's going to happen today, at least it would be clearer." said Naruto.

Naruto just sat down on the bed, with Asami sitting on his lap, both still gazing at the few stars. The two continued watching, losing the sense of time around them, Asami dozed off after a few minutes. Naruto just kept on holding her and kept on looking outside, now with the grim memories surfacing. How Tsunade and everyone else that he knew would react. The Kyuubi vessel only to realize the current time when he saw the horizon just over the hills were slowly turning light blue. Dawn was approaching. He was just about to wake Asami up when the loud knocks on the door did it for him.

"Oi! Brat! Asami! Wake up!" ranted Kisame as the ex-Akatsuki member knocked on the door even harder. "I hope you two aren't doing what I think you're doing!"

That totally ruined the whole mood.

Samehada's wielder was already ready, down in his usual ANBU uniform unlike the Jounin vest he'd for three days straight. The only thing he kept the same was the usual pair of black pants, with no kunai holster. All four of them only wear their ANBU uniforms when they perform a mission, while Jounin vests and cloaks worn on usual days. Kisame had arm guards, and shin guards. Where he used to wear the warmers on his arms and legs. He didn't wear any fingerless gloves, saying how he would get a better grip on Samehada. No sleeves or any form of shoulder guards, giving him better maneuverability on his arms. He decided to wear his long favorite shark ANBU mask, decorated in waves of ocean dark blue, which was totally going to give away his identity. Then again, everyone already knew who he was ever since they saw Samehada.

Two swords suddenly penetrated the wooden door, with Kisame's head just in between and his hand that knocked door right below Kirimaru. The gray skinned shinobi turned and saw his mouth reflected on the surface on the blade. He bared his white shark teeth, having another check after just brushing his teeth.

Naruto opened the door with a death glare, pulling out the two swords out of the door with ease. Kisame saw Asami groggily rubbing her eyes and mumbling curses, before refreshing up a little in the toilet.

"Good. Both of you have your clothes on. I thought you two were having sex before the mission." Kisame grinning, not caring the killing attempt he'd been through just minutes earlier. "I know how you seem to have unlimited stamina and-"

Naruto slammed the door shut, right in front of Kisame's face, and went to back to his Jounin vest where he stashed his scrolls. Kisame peeked through one of the recently made holes on the door.

"I can see you…" sang Kisame as his eyes had caught on Naruto who just got hold on his weapons pouch and kunai holsters.

Hoshigaki Kisame quickly dived away from the door as it was now full of shurikens and kunais that managed to partially penetrated through the layer of wood. He knew Naruto could've thrown harder, but that was just a sign of warning.

Kabuto just shook his head while at his seat, already knew what was going to happen the moment Kisame walked out of his room to find only the medic-nin sitting there. The medic-nin rose from his seat, and strolled his way into his own room to get ready. Asami, Naruto, and Kabuto took out their desired scroll and let roll down a bit. This time, they had to smear a trail of their blood on the scroll unlike the usual drop. Body armor, arm guards, fingerless gloves with hand guards, and an average mineral bottle.

That's right, an average mineral bottle.

Naruto clamped on his arm guards while Asami just wore her fingerless gloves first. Kabuto in the other room preferred starting off with the pieces of body armor that goes on the chest and the back.

"Need some help?" asked Naruto, grinning, as he watched Asami now moving on with her plate of armor.

"No need. May be you can help me later on when I need to take my clothes off." replied Asami as she finally finished.

Naruto strapped the kunai holsters, one on each thigh. "May be I will."

Lastly, they opened the cap of the mineral bottle and poured out its content. The all brown sand came pouring out to a small heap. It was special, seeing as it was courtesy of their Kazekage, sand and the hardest minerals around from deep underground, those that he'd used in making Gaara's absolute defense. Their fingertips touching the small mass of sand, chakra flowing out and molding the sand like it was clay, into their own ANBU masks. Narrow eyeholes, a design where no two masks are alike, and this time the masks have the insignia of Suna on the forehead just like any forehead protector. Kisame was drinking a cup of coffee when the three made their appearance.

"Coffee anyone?" Kisame held the electric kettle.

"I guess." replied Asami as she sat and poured some herself. Naruto fetched his other set of cloak since the other one was currently being dried.

The four of them were still prepared a little bit earlier than planned, but no one complained. After performing numerous grand missions, none of them ever thought the weirdness of the situation that came before it. Naruto, Asami, Kabuto, and Kisame were actually calm, upon going with the plan of killing Orochimaru in front of over a thousand people.

_'Drinking a cup of coffee, right before one of Naruto's craziest yet plans ever. I wonder how the Leaf-nins will react after what's going to happen today.'_ considered Kabuto, blowing his cup of coffee.

"I'm hungry. Is there anything to eat?" asked Asami.

The male shinobis contemplated their current situation, the kunoichi before them wasn't getting grouchy yet. That meant she was just hungry, not starving yet.

"May be you should eat later. Then we can watch you beat the crap out of that bastard snake even harder before he dies." commented Kisame.

Kabuto just took drank his coffee in silence.

"Look in the fridge or something. That bastard might die in quick and painful death if Asami gets to nail a single punch," added Naruto. "The likes of him doesn't deserve such finish."

The ex-Sound-nin slip his hand into his hip pouch, and threw a pill, which Asami caught easily the rather small object easily.

"A food pill?" wondered Asami, she looked at the small crimson circular pill. Already able to differentiate between the various same looking forms of pills, being a soldier pill or blood pill.

Kabuto nodded, "That should be enough. For you, I think it'd probably last until lunch."

Asami just swallowed the pill, drinking in some coffee to get rid of the bitter taste that came every time eating one of those pills.

Kisame raised an eye brow, "I'd be careful if I were. May be that one is one of his experimental pills. He's just as crafty at making pills just how our captain here makes his own seals and jutsus, it's just that most of those things would come with a side effect or something. Last time I tried one, I got constipation for three days straight."

"Why Kisame, I'm hurt." replied Kabuto in sarcasm.

"The fact that you don't eat vegetables, I'm surprised that you don't complain about constipation all the time." said Naruto.

"Let's just say I don't like anything green in color. Everything green I've encountered throughout my life is just plain stupid and annoying." Kisame saying it like it was a curse.

The Kyuubi vessel tried thinking of something green that was would fit Kisame's description. Kisame and Naruto shuddered upon thought, not knowing they were sharing the same idea.

Maito Gai posing with his crazy hairdo, guarding stance, while shining his white teeth, and wearing the skintight green spandex.

Kyuubi winced as the demon watched the thought that bubble up in his vessel's mind.

**'Stupid humans…'**

A few stairs and rooms away, the three Sand siblings woke up in their own separate rooms, and looked at the scroll that lay on the counter next to their beds. Everyone including Lady Chiyo, Old man Ebizou, and all the Sand ANBU guards received one from Naruto, right before they went to their rooms to sleep.

Each scroll had different tasks for each one to perform.

But they all had something in common, it wrote in the end…

AFTER EVERYTHING LISTED ABOVE IS DONE, JUST SIT BACK AND WATCH.

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Okay people, you know the drill. RATE AND REVIEW, and I'll write the story. They're heavily appreciated! I guess there are some major things that have changed, I could use the critics. 


	13. Leaf, Grass, Sand, and Waterfall

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never

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Hello again! I think this has been the longest period of time between updating one chapter from another. I've been waiting for my review to at least cross the 150 mark. Besides, I've been busy with my studies. Thanks to all those readers who have been sending me regular reviews! I guess I really look up to quantity and quality. I'll try to update at least once every one or two weeks. I'm on to you people! Enjoy!

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Uzumaki Naruto closed the zipper that would hold his cloak together, and pulled up its hood over his head for the finishing touch. In truth, he never liked the idea of wearing them either when he's performing missions or just crossing the scorching desert to reach Sunagakure. Gaara once told him that the heat of wearing such heavy clothing under the hot sun wasn't anything compared to having the heat fall directly on the skin. Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto did the same thing as they pulled the hood over as all four of them made the last few preparations. Each one of them also wore the average standard communicator consisting a wire of small receiver and earphone. Seeing as how the plan was going to be carried out over a large radius in different places. Naruto decided give a try on the communicator, seeing if there was anything wrong.

He did have experience using them, to catch a lost pet cat.

"Testing…testing…foxes at mating." muttered Kisame without being bothered of holding the small wire of microphone closer to his lips.

Both Asami and Naruto didn't do anything in reaction, it was just one of those times where Kisame would try to push their buttons and lighten up the tension before a mission. Thought, that didn't mean they weren't a little bit tweaked about it. Seeing as the ex-Swordsman of the Mist would never pestering Naruto and Asami, including the fact that they were already married for a year. In truth the nuisance coming from Kisame just got worse after they had got together.

"What? I was just testing." justified Kisame, as he gave a few taps on his earphone. "You all got that loud and clear right?"

"Yes, Kisame, we all heard that loud and clear." answered Naruto in a bored manner.

Kabuto was the first to put his ANBU mask on, and then took a good look at his own reflection on the mirror not too far away. Making sure that none of his strands of hair were visible. Asami and Naruto put on their own ANBU masks too, though they just stood in their place and looked at their reflection from the mirror across the room. It was a wonder how Naruto, Asami, Kabuto, and Kisame could hide their unruly wild hair from being seen from under the hood and mask, especially Naruto's case.

"Between all four of us, we have to be careful not to blow our covers too early." mentioned Asami, at the same time noticing of the three male shinobi's current status.

"What?" defended Kisame since the kunoichi gave the longest look on him.

"I think some of us should be a little bit more careful since we're going to be close to those Leaf-nins for a while. I don't have to worry about having any of them recognizing me even without my ANBU mask on." pointed out Asami.

"Ooooo, I think I should be careful too. Who knows what will happen if they manage to find out that I'm Hoshigaki Kisame." said Kisame in sarcasm.

"Well we all know Kisame's cover is already blown." replied Kabuto.

Naruto gave a glare to the Samehada wielder, "That doesn't mean you can go around scaring people half to death."

"Not now at least." finished Asami, crossing her arms. "Do that after we're done with Orochimaru."

"Are you sure our Kazekage is okay with that?" asked Kabuto, thinking about the few residents of Konoha cowering in terror from a laughing Kisame. That ex-Akatsuki member was going to drink sake to his heart's content after the Jounin tournament, just as he said he would. Especially when someone's paying.

Which was never a good thing.

"You and I should be more careful, Naruto-kun." suggested Kabuto. Naruto knew what he meant. "The few people that know about the two of us will all be standing guard by their Hokage's side. I'm sure both of her assistants, Shizune and Sakura, along with Kakashi will be present."

"Mostly around Tsunade-obachan and. Shizune-nee-chan." replied Naruto proficiently, "Kakashi would be suspicious, but all for the wrong reasons. Sakura hardly knows about you outside that Chuunin exam event we had together, but it doesn't mean that she won't be just as cautious."

"A Sannin's apprentice," noted Asami. She shouldn't have overestimated her when she recollected as much information as she knows about Sakura. "Then again, we all know that some Waterfall-nin had beaten her in the Jounin preliminaries."

Kisame already had the activities of the day planned out.

1. Join in torturing the snake before Naruto gives the final blow.

2. Enjoy watching the shocked faces of the audience.

3. Scare some pedestrians on his way to a decent bar.

4. Drink all the sake he wants till he can't drink anymore.

5. Scare more people on the way back to the inn.

"What are you going to do after that snake's dead?" wondered Kisame.

Naruto frowned in thought. "Settle several unfinished businesses and clear things up"

Would they recognize him at all if it weren't for the whisker marks?

His hair was like a yellow form mess, spiking out like a porcupine, until it would come down near the edges, his forehead, and ears. Jiraiya did say Naruto reminded him of the Fourth, but the Jinchuuriki didn't like the idea of letting his hair grow too long in front and around his ears. Something about how it itches and how it would disturb his hearing senses. His uncanny resemblance with the Fourth was getting more and more obvious as time flies by. The first impression for anyone who had lived long enough to get to see the Fourth would totally agree with the Toad Sannin.

He was a split image of the Fourth.

Not that Naruto cared.

"Let's go." called Naruto, his mask on, pulling the door wide open. From his voice, the three could tell that Uzumaki Naruto has just switched into his cold silent demeanor.

"Ehehehehe…I can't wait." chuckled Kisame as he followed and tried to imagine the various possible shocked faces.

Soon enough, all the Sand-nins were gathered down at the lobby and were ready to leave. Takagi, Chiro, and Hirami seemed belittled in the presence of the surrounding elder Sand-nins. With Gaara in the Kazekage blue and white robes, the small blue colored 'Wind' kanji written on his Kazekage hat, though he had long decided to not wear the veil. His elder sister and brother, Temari and Kankurou, were wearing in an all black colored shinobi outfit. Kankurou had three large scrolls over his back while Temari had her trusty battle fan strapped behind at her sash. The two village elders, Lady Chiyo and Old man Ebizou, were wearing their usual formal clothes but also black in color. Ten ANBU members in total, including Naruto's team, in total present. Naruto's team clearly stood out from the small group of Sand-nins since he, Asami, Kabuto, and Kisame were the only ones that wearing cloaks that covered from head to knee. Naruto stood out from the rest of the ANBU since he was the only one wearing a blood red colored mask, with the very detailed face of cross between a demon and a canine.

Chiro wondered, how these silent ANBU members were like enjoying themselves yesterday at the ramen stand yesterday. True, they are practically just like any other shinobi, who perform missions, return home, some to their families, and then to live another day. A thin line separated the ANBU from the other Jounins, Chuunins, and Gennins. They were trained and specialized to kill. Missions meant in absolute or imminent kill, no matter what. In fact, that was ANBU was all about.

It did stand for Ansatsu Senjutsu Toukushu Butai (Assassination Tactics Special Squad). The acronym ANBU coming from the first two letters from the first and last words.

ANBU members take away lives in order to save lives, which could be said as opposites of medic-nins. They were to kill someone who could possibly pose a threat to anyone else: being their own Kazekage or the citizens of Wind Country. Targets being wanted shinobis from all five elemental. It was people would say, for the greater good.

Gaara and the rest of the senior Sand-nins could already detect the presence of a small number of ANBU Leaf-nins around the inn. Despite the fact that Kisame was wearing his ANBU mask that had small holes for his nostrils, he could easily detect the faint smell of chakra radiated by the ANBU Leaf-nins. Naruto, Asami, Kisame and Kabuto were playing the 'Where's the ANBU?' game all over again.

The Kazekage and his band of Sand-nins knew they were being watched. They all simply walked to the stadium, totally attracting the attention of by standers on the streets just like yesterday. Either it was from the Kazekage's appearance, the number of ANBU walking in the public, or possibly Naruto's mask. They wanted to avoid as much attention as possible, already going out from the inn early in the morning. However, the streets were already full of people, shinobis from all over Fire and Wind Country. The daimyos (landlords), ministers, and the important influential leaders from the two elemental countries were probably entering through the village gates. Various shinobis within Konoha's alliance such as Rain-nins, Waterfall-nins, and Grass-nins could already be seen.

Baki and his three Chuunins were walking in the lead, as they seemed most likely to know wherever this stadium was. From the meeting Naruto had his three comrades: Naruto knew that the place was situated at the edge of the Konoha. There were already people walking along side early that morning to get better seats and such. The blonde ANBU captain had never knew about this place, may be it was quickly built and completed while he was away or just never knew about the place. Naruto set his eyes on the designated area for the first time, though he had already gone through its very blue prints and city plans. The stadium was huge, much more than the one he'd seen in his first Chuunin exam. Definitely bigger than the one in Tsuchigakure ( Hidden Village of the Rock) where he had taken his Jounin exam after he had joined Suna.

"Impressive." Kankurou whistled, as sign of astonishment and mild surprise. "Though they should spend more time training themselves than building such things."

His younger brother was silent, looking at the majestic that was the Jounin stadium.

"He's right, they should either do some training or focus on more important things. For one thing, their security here sucks." huffed Kisame.

"I've got to say, these Leaf-nins really know when to show off." added Asami, leaning close to Temari.

Temari turned her head to the kunoichi and whispered in return, "You haven't seen their hot springs and public baths yet."

This was the second time that Kisame and Kabuto had been here, since they had just recently surveyed the whole place yesterday while Naruto and Asami had gone to visit the memorial stone near the training area of Team 7. Naruto looked at the Godaime (The Fifth) Kazekage, or small brother since he was older than the Shukaku vessel. Gaara nodded to his ANBU members, which in return disappeared in a whirl of sand. They were taking their positions around the stadium. Temari smiled at her smaller brother before leaving the group and disappeared in the crowd.

"I guess I better move on then." shrugged Kankurou. The puppet master patted his brother, Gaara, on his right shoulder. "Enjoy the prime seat, Kazekage-sama."

Gaara could hear the tinge of mockery and playfulness in the word Kazekage-sama, much like when Naruto, Asami, or Kisame would call him. Those three would just call him by his name when they weren't in public. Soon enough, Baki and his group of young Chuunins were going to separate from the group. Takagi was to be expected at the waiting room while his teammates and Jounin instructor would be sitting down with the rest of the spectators.

"Nervous, you little runt?" asked Kisame. The sword master looked down at the really short Chuunin in front of him.

Takagi didn't like what he was hearing, but he couldn't deny it. "A little."

Kisame decided to scare the young Chuunin a bit. "I mean, there's nothing to be really scared about. You're only fighting some crazy shinobis as your opponent. Someone who's twice as old as you."

Takagi didn't seem fazed by what Kisame had said at all, since he'd probably faced far older and better ninjas when the gray skinned shinobi thought about it.

"Who had beaten the apprentice of a Sannin." added Kisame.

That had done it, Takagi looked slightly worried.

Kisame bowed a little lower and continued, "May be you'll get the chance to fight Uchiha Sasuke. I mean between that old Waterfall-nin, an Uchiha, and a Grass-nin kunoichi who made your teammate here scream like a girl just by a glance."

Takagi's teammate, Chiro, didn't want to be constantly reminded about that. Hirami giggled as she saw her teammate bit his lower lip in refraining him, from saying something he might regret, at Kisame.

"I think that's enough coming from you." interrupted Asami. She gave Takagi a pat on the back. "Come on, cheer up. Who knows? May be we'll have only two Chuunins returning back home."

The mentioned Chuunin didn't wince in pain or rub his back, unlike the times when Asami would hit Naruto, Kabuto, and Kisame. He felt his spirits lift up a little by the support.

"Gee…thanks." Takagi perked up a little from the support.

"There's nothing to be scared about." said Kabuto. The ex-Sound-nin bent closer and whispered in Takagi's ear. "Who knows, may be we'll come and join in the fight."

"Join?" repeated Takagi.

Kabuto's right hand rummaged through his weapon pouch, after finally finding his desired object, he placed it on Takagi's palm. "Here, take this. It might come in handy."

Hirami peeked as to what the ANBU had given her teammate, as she couldn't contain her curiousity. "What is it?"

Takagi took a good look at it, whatever it was. It turned out to be nothing more but a pill.

"A pill?"

"It's a blood pill." specified Kabuto, seeing the confused looks on Takagi and Hirami's face. "A special one since I made that pill myself. This one works much faster and more effective than other blood pills. Closes minor wounds, something that other blood pills can't do, and it enhances the body's blood cell reproduction. Don't worry, blood pills are legal in Jounin exams, it's just that very few shinobis even come up with idea of carrying blood pills around."

"What he meant to say is, just eat that damn thing when you're seriously wounded." summarized Kisame.

Lady Chiyo gave a suggestion, "You might want to put than somewhere instead of your weapons pouch. You don't want to lose it when you draw something else out during the process."

Takagi placed it in one of his Chuunin vest's pockets. "Thanks."

Kisame just shook his head in pity_, 'I wonder how long the constipation will last….'_

Asami turned to the ANBU captain expecting him to say something to Takagi. Naruto was struggling with himself in the inside. He turned around, carefully observing the crowd of people walking around not too far away. He slouched down a little towards Baki's student.

"…Good luck." said Naruto, loud enough for only Takagi and the nearby Sand-nins to hear coming behind the ANBU mask.

Asami giggled in response whereas Kabuto and Kisame smirked a little in watching Naruto's antic. Lady Chiyo and Ebizou shared their joy, since their blonde shinobi was slowly recovering just as Jiraiya and the few people of Sunagakure who knew Naruto, had hoped for.

Kisame whispered through the communicator, "Now that wasn't so hard, was it? It's just talking, not that you should mind about people hearing you."

Naruto scowled, somehow managing to say something while gritting his teeth through his own communicator. "Don't push your luck, fish face."

"What are you going to do? Fight me in front of all these people right now?" provoked Kisame jokingly, who now just talk out loud for everyone to hear. "Huh? Huh! Huh!"

Naruto glared at Kisame through his ANBU mask, and unleashed the gruesome killing intent that usually freezes everyone in their place. Seeing as Gaara and the two council members were around, the ANBU captain decided to just tone down his killing intent a bit. It was just high enough for people to feel the chilling aura in the air. Wondering what in the world was scaring them down to their bones. Those who could see the small group of Sand-nins would know it was somehow coming from the ANBU member wearing the grim red demon mask.

It was more than enough for a warning.

Kisame backed away, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender. He could just barely say, "Okay…okay…I get the point."

Asami, who still hadn't forgot the annoying wake up call, decided to join in. She gave a hard elbow in Kisame's ribs, "Good."

"Okay, that was too hard even for a playful hit." winced Kisame, holding onto his ribs as he went on his knees. This time, not acting all too melodramatic. "I bet that would've at least crack Gaara's sand armor."

The Shukaku vessel was stoic, but then wanted to know how Baki, Takagi, Chiro, and Hirami were doing in response to Naruto's own killing intent earlier. Gaara wondered if what Kisame had just said was true. Would Asami's hit have easily broken through his sand armor? The three Chuunins were slowly recovering, as Baki and Gaara's eyes met.

"Nothing to worry about. Kazekage-sama." assured Baki. He gestured the three Sand-nins to move on into the entrance. "Now let's move along, you three."

Hirami waved goodbye at Takagi and the Sand-nins, as was being pulled away by Chiro. "Good luck!"

"You're going to need it." joshed Chiro.

The red haired kunoichi, Asami, waved back at Hirami not caring as Kisame held on to his ribs. "Next time think twice before you decide on a way to wake someone up. Banging really loud over and over along with shrewd comments isn't a good idea."

Kabuto wasn't surprised upon Asami's action, but then held out his right arm to Kisame's ribs. His hand glowed in green chakra that was probably just easing the pain and probably heals any minor injuries or slight bruise. "In your case, Kisame, it'd be best if you think thrice."

Having a medic-nin such as Kabuto has its disadvantages, in Kisame's opinion. His presence in the team just gives more reason to Asami in having the desire to punch and hit before thinking the dire consequences later. Her attacks were clearly more frequent when Kabuto had joined them. The elders, Chiyo and Ebizou, watched and had decided to intervene the new generation of Sand-nins' little escapades.

"Now. Now. That's enough from all four of you.," said the old kunoichi, Chiyo.

"Gomen (Sorry) Chiyo-ba-sama." bowed Asami slightly in deep apology. Thinking how she had somehow embarrassed the elder Sand-nins.

"Oh sure, you show your respect to the elderly." frowned Kisame in irritation. "How about me? I'm older than you."

Ebizou and Chiyo felt the apology was unnecessary, but then again she was very respectful toward those were far older than her. Raetsu did taught her manners in showing respect to the elderly, those who deserved them. Respect was to given before one would receive one. That was what the deceased Snow-nin used to say in words of wisdom. The two elder Sand-nins had done just that, which Asami gratefully received and returned in her services as a Sand-nin. Naruto knew her, a little girl who had nothing more than the love of her of father, no one else, since she could remember. With Raetsu's death, the Snow kunoichi was more than surprised to have people who she call as friends or family.

To her, Kisame was kind of like a senile uncle who wouldn't let go of his youth.

"There's no need for that, Asami." chuckled the aged man that old enough to be her grandfather. Ebizou suggested, "How about we go find our seats?"

Getting to the mentioned prime seat where Gaara would be sitting was longer than they thought it would take. From the outside, high walls much like those in Naruto's Chuunin exam surrounded the battle arena. Gaara, the two village elders, and Naruto's ANBU team were escorted by two Leaf-nins that had been stationed for them at the entrance. The Kyuubi vessel recognized one of them as the refereed his match where he had to face Neji.

"Didn't expect your arrival to be this early, dear Kazekage." said Genma with the long acupuncture needle in his mouth.

Naruto had no idea who the other Leaf-nin was, seeing as he had never met or heard anything about him before. From the looks of the male shinobi, he was probably as old as Kakashi and the rest of the Jounin instructors.

"My name is Yamashiro Aoba." introduced the Leaf-nin that was wearing a pair of shades much like Shino's father, Aburame Shibi. He slightly bowed. " Let me show the way to the place where you will be seating, Kazekage-sama."

Soon enough, Gaara, Chiyo, Ebizou, and the four ANBU elite Sand-nins had arrived after walking up for several minutes. Naruto and his team took the opportunity to have a closer look around the stadium on their way. They encountered several Leaf-nins and ANBU that were on the look out; the security was tight as ever. Kabuto didn't remember having this much number than the last time he had been on the Chuunin exam that led to the invasion attempt of Sound and Sand. Upon the thought, the stadium was bigger, a larger number of ANBU and Leaf-nins were needed, and the fact that at least a known Akatsuki member was posing as Sand-nin.

'Better safe than sorry.' thought Kabuto as he detected the seventh ANBU Leaf-nin.

Naruto was surprised not expecting to see Tsunade and Shizune to be already there, they were at least two hours early before the last phase of the Jounin exam would start. He found the old hag sleeping at her seat, with Shizune startled with the Sand-nins sudden appearance. She quickly shook the slug summoner to wake her up.

"Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama! Wake up." pleaded Shizune in embarrassment. "They're here. The Kazekage is here."

The drowsy Fifth Hokage opened her eyes, "Hhmmm…? Oh."

Tsunade wasn't the least embarrassed or humiliated at all, she slowly stood up and stretched from her seat. She didn't get a good night sleep, after trying to figure out about the Akatsuki situation. The Hokage did hold a quick talk with Kakashi before watching him go with his team. Like wise, a swift nap while sitting wasn't too much of a trouble since she would usually doze off at her office table while marking papers. She saw Gaara, the two Sand council members, and his four bodyguards by his side. She had to ignore their presence and the arising problems for now.

"You're up and early, Kazekage-dono." commented Tsunade as she greeted the leader of the Sand-nins. "Come to think of it, you don't sleep much, do you?"

The Sannin wasn't being too formal with her important guest, seeing as they weren't in public. However she still kept her friendly nature, which Gaara didn't mind at all. She was being vigilant due to her suspicions of present Akatsuki members by Gaara's side.

"Actually I do, Hokage-dono." corrected Gaara as he took a seat.

"Really?" pondered Tsunade in interest, her drowsiness completely gone.

"I sleep from time to time, I just don't sleep as much as how other people would." said Gaara. The Shukaku vessel noticed Tsunade's interest on how Shukaku would affect him. "There's no need to worry, Hokage-dono. I don't have any more trouble about sleeping."

Tsunade turned her attention to Naruto who was standing behind the chair where his Kazekage was currently sitting. The ANBU captain was in no way blocking the elder Sand-nins view, the same as the other three ANBU that were standing around the seats Lady Chiyo and Elder Ebizou.

"I'm sorry for not introducing them yesterday." Gaara turned to the two elder Sand-nins and Tsunade. Better to divert her attention as much as possible. "This is Lady Chiyo, and her brother Ebizou."

"I think you have a vague as to who I am." smiled Chiyo as she faced the two Kage. "You did come up with the antidotes to neutralize my poisons back in the Great Shinobi Wars."

Tsunade knew upon hearing her, this was the very kunoichi that had concocted poison and venom that had upturn between the Suna and Konoha wars. The Slug-summoner noticed the still visible black color around Gaara's eyes. "Just asking, why is the skin around your eyes still black?"

Naruto, Kabuto, Kisame, and Asami were intrigued, watching Gaara just talking with Tsunade much like he did with them and other Sand-nins in Sunagakure. In the short period of time, Kabuto noticed and was astounded to Gaara's abrupt change that was much like Naruto after getting the pleasure in meeting them again.

"They're possibly permanent." said Ebizou with a cough, who leaned from his seat. "Perhaps signs or marks due to having Shukaku sealed in him."

This made Tsunade thought upon Naruto's whisker marks on his cheeks, distinct features that the Bijuu had could somehow show on its Jinchuuriki. A raccoon did have that black pattern around its eyes, as to a fox with longer distinct whiskers that of a raccoon.

"It's been a long time since we idly chat together." said Tsunade; she leaned back to her chair looking down at the empty arena below. "We've got around two hours. I guess I don't have to tell you why I'm already here?"

"No. You don't have to." said Gaara with a tone of understanding. "Any Kage would enjoy his or her time out of the office."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "All those paper works are finally getting to you, Kazekage-dono."

_'Oh god, why did we leave early.'_ complained Kisame in thought. The Samehada wielder knew this was going to be longest two-hour he'd have to wait for his entire life.

Uzumaki Naruto watched Tsunade as the female Hokage and her assistant, Shizune, were talking with Gaara. Both of them somehow looked happy, as happy as they'll ever be. His heart began to ache with a deep sense of guilt and sorrow as he saw the scenery before him. The Sand ANBU captain gritted his teeth hard behind the mask, fingers clenched tight into fists, as his chest moved up and down under the body armor, which were all was hidden under the cloak.

_'I'm so sorry, Oba-chan (Old granny). I really am.' _

Note: Did I get the translation right?

The Kyuubi vessel heard footsteps coming from the stairs that they had previously climbed through. From the sounds of it, more than just two people made them. The Sand ANBU elites knew there were five people in total, but so far they could only identify two of them. There they were, Sakura and Kakashi, accompanying three shinobis that were wearing dark blue shinobi vests. Judging by the symbol on their forehead protectors, Kabuto, Asami, and Kisame could tell that the three were Waterfall-nins. Their ANBU captain recognized one of them upon seeing his face.

"Nice to see that you could come and join us, Shibuki-san." Tsunade stood up from her seat. "I hope the short trip went smoothly."

The long black haired Jounin shook the Hokage's hand in greeting. "It's nice to see you too, Hokage-dono. The trip was fine. I was surprised to see Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke on the way coming up here."

"Sorry to tell you that Naruto hasn't come back yet." said Tsunade in regret.

"Sakura-san already told me about it. I sometimes wonder when will he come back." replied Shibuki.

The Waterfall-nin named Shibuki then looked at Gaara. Tsunade didn't have the need to introduce them to one another, since there were the occasional meetings of all Ninja villages within Konoha's alliance. Consisting of the Leaf-nins, Sand-nins, Waterfall-nins, Grass-nins, and Rain-nins. The number of all the Waterfall-nins put together were small, in fact, smallest out of the nine still existing Hidden Villages. Currently, Konoha could fully rely on Sand-nins and Waterfall-nins in any need of help if there were ever such need.

"Looks like you've brought a lot of friends along with you, Kazekage-dono." commented Shibuki, referring to Naruto and the rest of the present Sand-nins. "They don't look quite friendly to me."

One of the Waterfall-nins watched the large hilt of Samehada with discomfort. Kisame however had his eyes at Kakashi and was waving his hand playfully. The other one felt disturbed as he stared at the creepy demon mask Naruto was wearing, he had sworn that he saw flickers of red in the eyeholes. He backed away gingerly and was the first time having second thoughts about the idea of volunteering as a bodyguard. Each Village leader had their own set of guards by their side.

The Godaime Hokage Tsunade had Shizune, Sakura, and Kakashi.

The Jounin leader Shibuki had the two Jounins by his side.

The Godaime Kazekage Gaara had two retired shinobis, whom were now only council members, and four ANBU Sand-nins.

Sakura hoped that might be the coming Jounin leader of the Grass would bring in two more bodyguards to even the odds just in case the Sand-nins tried anything.

---------A level below, somewhere in the lines of numerous seated spectators----------------

Sarutobi Asuma was at the top, smoking a cigarette as he leaned on the wall for look out. He could see Chouji munching a bag of potato chips way below, lower down, was Yamanaka Ino. At the lowest case, was Nara Shikamaru looked never lazier before in his whole life. He was positioned at the railing where the sheer drop would lead anyone to the fighting arena below. Team 10 was had been in charge on guarding the section of landlords with the aid of three ANBU Leaf-nins.

"Well look who came to visit you, Shikamaru." teased Chouji loud enough for the lazy shadow binder to hear. "It's your girlfriend."

"How troublesome…" sighed Shikamaru as usual.

He looked up to see the approaching Sand kunoichi as she passed Chouji, and gave an intimidating look to Ino. Sadly enough, the Yamanaka ignored her as she turned to look somewhere else.

Shikamaru heaved another sigh. "Two woman fighting one another. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse."

"Guard duty again?" Temari asked the obvious. Shikamaru was already used to the wind mistress's mockery.

"Apparently." mumbled Shikamaru.

"You just can't stop showing that lazy face of yours, can you?" asked Temari, sitting on the railing.

'What's her problem…' thought Shikamaru. Instead of going on rambling on about how God had made his face this way and how he was born with it, Shikamaru decided to save his energy and time in just saying. "No…"

Temari gave a glance at the battleground below. "Don't worry, I'll be here to save your lazy ass once more if anything turns up."

Asuma exhaled some smoke out into the air, his mind contemplating about his team's current situation after the years went by since he picked them up from their classroom.

Chouji was still hung up on eating constantly, but at least he trained just as much. Ino was the same, she still took care of looks just as much as she trained. The longer platinum blonde hair, fish net coverings on her thighs and elbows. The lazy bum Shikamaru was somehow being able to manage some form of relationship with the Sand kunoichi while still being lazy at the same time.

Kankurou was in a different situation as he surveyed his surrounding. After coming out from a corridor into the rows of seats, he had met with one of the least favorite shinobi.

"It seem our paths have crossed once again." said Shino in a mysterious manner.

Even with the drastic change of clothing, the Aburame clan member wasn't too hard to be compared. A large black clothing that was high collared, which still covered the part of his mouth, an opened jacket where the hood was now covering his hair from view just like an ANBU, with nicer looking pair of shades, and visible part between his sandals and pants were now bandaged just like any other Jounin. In other words, his fashion sense just got more mysterious.

_'Of all people….'_ dreaded Kankurou in his mind.

The two long hours passed by, as Naruto and everyone that was present at the top box could see the large number of people entering and slowly filling the seats of the stadium. The landlords of Fire and Wind Country were seated in a different section, away from the other spectators, which had more ANBU and Jounin Leaf-nins standing guard.

_'Never seen this much ANBU in one place before,'_ thought Kisame behind the mask.

"That's odd, the match is about to start and Shintara hasn't come yet." said Shibuki. "I thought he'd come and see his Grass-nin in battle."

The Leaf-nins were suspicious more than ever; Tsunade was the one most troubled. She knew something really bad was going to happen since she just had her suspicions confirmed this morning. Two cracked cups followed by a first place prize from her gambling ticket that she had checked while reading the morning paper. Things aren't looking good after the recent events over the years she'd become the fifth Hokage. The destruction of Otogakure, no news of Akatsuki since she last heard of Jiraiya, but then to suddenly show themselves in the open, as Sand-nins.

The stage was set, Mitarashi Anko was the referee in front of a line of the four remaining exam candidates. Each ninja representing their own village as their own fellow comrades have come to watch. The field where the fight would take place was as big and wide as a football field, but all the spectators could just easily watch them without any sort of problem. Unlike the Chuunin exam, they only take the last four instead of the usual eight candidates.

There was Uchiha Sasuke on the farthest right, in his dark green Chuunin vest. The proud Uchiha symbol, red and white fan, on both sides of his short sleeve could be seen. He was wearing a new Konoha head protector, he got this one when Tsunade had Kakashi deliver it all thanks to last night's sparring. The two pieces of his old headband was in a drawer, next to his bed. He was wearing the black pants just like all the other average Chuunins and Jounins, including the bandage wrapping in between his thigh and his kunai holster.

Yosuke Takagi was obviously the shortest of the four, as he wore his Suna head protector over his forehead. His Chuunin was sand brown, with pockets not as many that of a Leaf-nin's own, and it's unique look of shoulder guards. He had short chocolate brown that were all somehow combed backwards. In a trait or common look in his family and clan was the long sideburn that were made to look like an ant lion's pincers.

Ebora Shirou was the tallest as he was the oldest. Clad in a gray vest over a long sleeved dark blue shirt. He had coal black hair, though there were signs of stress judging by his little visible graying hair. There already strands of white hair around, of course anyone who wanted to see it had to get a closer look.

Yashiharu Taiyama was the oddball that clearly stands out from the rest. She didn't wear any vest like the rest. She had her Grass headband protector tied around her left bicep. The kunoichi was wearing a necklace what seemed to be dangling assorted thorns. Something shinobis don't usually see, even when they heard some necklaces that had claws, fangs, or small pieces of bones. Her long black hair was tied down in a ponytail. She was in a long sleeved light green dress, long enough to totally the tip of her nails from view. The cloth trailed down, only to be cut near the thighs, leaving a piece at the front and the back. The few things she had in common were the usual black pants and shinobi sandals. There wasn't even a kunai holster or a weapons pouch visible.

Once again Tsunade stood up from her seat, and coughed a little in clearing her throat. She was going to raise her voice as loud as she can to speak with the spectators that were sitting another level below. She had done this every time Konoha would hold the Chuunin or Jounin exams, and she was about to do it once more.

"Thank you to all of you who have managed to come in watching the final phase of the Konohagakure Final Jounin exam. We will now start the main event, between all these four contestants who have managed to make their way here to the finals."

Back down on the arena, Anko was going to have a word or two with the four Chuunin contestants. She reached into the pocket inside her brown jacket, and pulled out a folded paper.

"Look here you midgets."

Which totally didn't fit the call seeing as all four of them weren't that small at all. The Waterfall-nin, Ebora Shirou, was practically taller than Anko and the other three. Takagi who was the youngest and shortest shinobi down there could probably outgrow the special ranked Jounin in three or four more years. The Grass-nin kunoichi had been smiling since ever since anyone could remember her entering Konohagakure.

"After some time discussing, we've already decided on who will be fighting who." ranted Anko.

Takagi gulped in nervousness as he looked at his name to see who was going to fight with and when. Just in case they had made some changes in the plan, they already told him that he would be fighting the Waterfall-nin.

Semi Finals:

Yosuke Takagi versus Ebora Shirou

Uchiha Sasuke versus Yashiharu Taiyama.

_'Perfect.'_ chuckled Orochimaru in his mind. Starting between Sasuke and Anko _'Just perfect. My dear Sasuke and Anko…isn't this a perfect gathering …' _

Anko decided to read it out anyways "The first match, Yosuke Takagi of the Sand versus Ebora Shirou of the Waterfall. The two of you midgets have to go wait at your own respective places."

Sasuke and the disguised Orochimaru went on different directions, as they were going to wait at opposite sides of the field. It was something new since now, where shinobis from different villages had to wait in their respective prepared rooms. It was to avoid any form of sabotage and because of a recent incident where shinobis actually fought before they got to their own turn. It involved a certain Uchiha and a Rain-nin, where the Leaf-nin had beaten his opponent after the Rain-nin tried to for a preemptive strike while the other match was going on. In any case, the snake Sannin didn't care one bit. It was nothing more but a delay, he could've take over Sasuke's body anytime he wanted ever since he had infiltrated Konoha. However, doing that wouldn't actually be going as he had carefully planned earlier.

_'Delay the imminent destruction all you want, Tsunade….' _

Anko stood in between Takagi and the Waterfall-nin, Shirou, and was about to clarify the rules. "Same rules apply like last time. The winner will be announced when it becomes all too obvious. I may intervene anytime. Anyone of you may quit any time once the match has begin."

The special Jounin took out a kunai and licked it in a bloodcurdling behavior.

_'She says that, but I think she would look more happy when one of us dies…'_ thought Takagi.

The taller shinobi teased before the fight would start. "Why don't you go back home and play in your little sand box or something? Cause you're fighting the guy who had beaten the apprentice of a Sannin."

This time, Takagi wasn't intimidated at all. Baki had already told him everything he knew about the Waterfall-nin since yesterday. Sometimes, it helps to have a loudmouth shinobi like Chiro as a teammate.

"So what, if you beat some girl? Either way, you're just going to fail this Jounin exam just like the previous ones. Was it seven or eight? A shinobi like you should know you're better off as a Chuunin for the rest of shinobi days."

Baki, Chiro, and Hirami were watching intently from their seats, much like how Gaara and the other Sand-nins were. The surrounding Leaf-nins realized that if the foreign ninja manages to get promoted to Jounin, he would be one of those exceptional shinobis to rise through ranks easily. He's only fourteen years old, compared to Kakashi and Itachi who both managed to get promoted to Jounin rank by their thirteenth birthday. However, the fresh Sand-nin had only taken and passed his Chuunin exam six months ago. And now, he was there once again in the Jounin exam.

"You show him, Takagi!" cheered Chiro out loud from his seat. "Kick his butt and wipe the floor clean with it!"

The nearby spectators, especially Konoha's Genins, were puzzled as to how the immature boisterous shinobi had managed to get himself promoted to becoming a Chuunin, after seeing the clear indication by his light gray Chuunin vest.

"You didn't have to say the last part, dumb ass." said Hirami.

Baki whacked his student at the back of his head, "She's right. Now just sit quietly and watch."

The Waterfall-nin's plan had easily backfired, he was already getting angrier by the second. The Chuunin was only twenty-four years old, but it was true that he had failed the Jounin exams seven times. He should be given credit to the fact he had managed to live through all seven of them.

"I'm going to kill you."

"Not if I kill you first." smirked Takagi.

"Alright, ladies. Enough girl talk." said Anko. She took a deep breath and shouted out loud. "First Round! Yosuke Takagi versus Ebora Shirou! Begin!"

The Waterfall-nin immediately jumped away backwards, making distance from the other. His opponent was hot on his trails, trying the close in the distance with a kunai. Overall, it would seem that the Sand-nin was quickly rushing into battle probably showing a sign of reckless or negligence.

From the top box above, Naruto had his own speculation about both of the Chuunin. _'Takagi probably knows that the Waterfall-nin is most likely a long-range attacker, so he's moving in for a close combat,' _

He was somehow curious as to how the Waterfall-nin managed to beat Sakura, an apprentice to a Sannin with super human strength and specialized in Taijutsu.

_'No water and no sand.'_ commented Kisame, with crossed arms under the cloak. 'Both of them are at equal terms.'

The two shinobis were now drawing weapons from either their weapons pouch or kunai holster. This caused Naruto to look at Sasuke and then to Kakashi. The Kyuubi vessel knew that Uchiha Itachi's little brother had most likely have his Sharingan activated. As Gaara, Kisame, Kabuto, Asami, Chiyo, and Ebizou realized and understood by Naruto's slight movements. However, the Copy Kakashi hadn't raised his Konoha headband in revealing his left eye Sharingan yet.

_'Which one are you going to copy when both of them decides to use Ninjutsus simultaneously, Sasuke-teme (bastard)?'_ mused Naruto.

The three Waterfall-nins including the one that was currently fighting hadn't seemed to grasp upon the idea how Sasuke could take the opportunity, gaining an advantage in going later on. He was going to copy and add any Ninjutsu to his list of already large collection of Ninjutsus.

Shirou threw several shurikens as a start in trying to slow the following shinobi. Though Takagi just parried the thrown metallic weapons with the kunai in his right hand or dodge some of them. The resilient young Sand-nin was about to make his move after following the still jumping shinobi. The shurikens merely fell down on the ground, as he took out several more shurikens with his left hand. He threw his own set of kunais and shurikens at the Waterfall-nin, which he also stopped them with his kunai. In a few minutes since the fight started, the battleground was already littered with discarded shurikens and kunais everywhere.

_'So he's already using that technique? A quick finish?'_ wondered Baki as he watched his student to continue emptying his weapons couch and kunai holster.

Takagi threw the last of his shurikens at the Waterfall-nin, since the match seemed dull in the eyes of the spectators. Simply the throwing of shurikens and kunais here and there, not a simple Bunshin (clone) had been performed.

"I see he has made preparations with Baki in this final phase of the Jounin exam. The young boy is quite good since this is his first time taking it. I had doubts as why to Baki would want to quickly enter his fresh team in this Jounin exam." smiled Ebizou.

"He always did take the most troubling bunch of Genins under his wing." added the old kunoichi with amusement. "With that great sense of finding hidden talents of his. Perhaps he also has something special that had attracted Baki's attention?"

Both of the Sand council members chortled in their seats, Gaara looking down to Takagi with the thought that he used to be one of those Genins.

"All right, if that's how you want to go." gritted Shirou in frustration as he had only a few kunais and explosion tags left, and had to finish it quick if he wanted to win. The older Waterfall-nin was fed up with the constant chase and mere shuriken and kunai throwing. He needed water, and plenty of it, if he wanted to show his specialties. He began making seals without thinking that Sasuke could be copying them.

All the shinobi elites who see or sense chakra in anyway could already feel some fairly big amount of chakra being poured into using the technique. The ground of the arena slightly rumbled under the fighting contestants. Takagi wasted no time in just waiting for the unknown attack to come, so he directed the kunais and shurikens for another round of attack. Takagi noticed a small crack on the earth not too far from his opponent, and saw water slowly pouring out like a spring.

Kisame had his sharky grin under the ANBU mask. 'He's somehow using chakra to draw water up from underground. It won't last long if he stops channeling out his chakra.'

"He's heavily dependent on water." assessed Shizune, by Tsunade's side.

"Right." agreed Tsunade with a slight nod. "But from the looks of it, a lot amount of chakra is spent in pumping the water up."

Sakura pouted, "I think I would've beaten him if you hadn't decided to organize the Jounin preliminary match back at the forest."

Down at the line of seated spectators, Chiro couldn't contain his voice anymore.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR, TAKAGI! ATTACK HIM!" bellowed Chiro in rage, pointing a finger at the Waterfall-nin. "SHOW HIM YOUR NINJUTSUS OR SOMETHING!"

"He doesn't want to," pointed out Baki.

Chiro looked confused, and turned to his Jounin instructor. "But why?"

Baki looked at Hirami, expecting her to give the answer. All the kunoichi did was raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "…Cause he wants to save his chakra?"

"The Uchiha might copy them." corrected Baki.

"But…but…he'll lose if he just stands there doing nothing." said Chiro.

Shirou was at the advantage, since the technique had somehow managed to draw out water deep under ground. His fingers touched onto the puddle, and leaked more chakra into it. The water was taking shape in between the shinobi's fingers, and that was bad for Takagi.

"Water Element: Spring Rush Technique!"

The water burst out from the crack of earth, flowing violently at the Sand-nin like a high-pressured hose. It wasn't really doing serious harm, but Takagi was washed away from his position. The rush sent him all the way to the end of the arena, as the water kept on pushing and pushing him towards the wall. Takagi felt his hands, body, and legs grow numb. The water assault finally stopped, leaving its victim falling to his knees on to the wet ground below him. Ebora Shirou was just getting started.

"Mizu Shuriken (Water Shuriken)!"

Numerous flying water-made shurikens soared out of the puddle of water like birds, towards the fallen Takagi. He forced his body to roll out of the way. But. the assault wasn't stopping as more and more shuriken followed his trail, eventually catching him. He was the one that was now getting lacerated by the sharp projectiles; he had four of them imbedded through his Chuunin vest before splashing away. The 'flock' of water projectiles hit him like he was a log target practice. Enough said, the Sand-nin fell onto the ground and exploded into a puff of smoke, revealing a decimated log.

"We're not done yet, boy." said Shirou. The shinobi used some more of his chakra to draw out more water. Judging by the puddles of water around, he had more than enough. The water flowing out from the small spring retreated back down to the underground stream below.

Takagi was breathing hard as he hid himself behind a tree, slowly taking assessing his current condition. By the looks of the four small wounds, Takagi knew that he was badly hurt even after his Chuunin vest had managed to take the worse of the hits. He was losing blood, and lots of it.

_'I should've used my Ninjutsus earlier…'_ contemplated Takagi with a heave. 'Who cares if that up tight Uchiha gets to copy them down? I might not win one match at all at this rate.'

The Sand-nin came up with a technique, he touched some of the blood from his wound and made the proper five-sequenced hand seals that his father had taught him.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)." whispered Takagi, trying to conserve his energy. He had just spent half of chakra reserve. It was followed by the predictable burst of smoke, signaling the crossing between dimensions of a summoning.

An ant lion, with the headband of Suna, was now looking around from the clearing smoke. That was only thing the summoning was wearing, no vest of any piece of cloth. It was around the same size as the giant centipede that Naruto once encountered and killed in his Chuunin exam. The ant lion wasn't hiding itself in a pit, so its whole body was visible for everyone to see. Takagi actually saw how his summoning looked like without popping its head out the sand. It looked like a mayfly with huge pincers and had very hairy legs, more specifically like bristles.

"This better be good, Takagi. Because I don't see a single grain of sand around here," warned the ant lion with a voice much that of a man, in the still disappearing smoke.

The summoning understood how severe the situation was after seeing the blood stained Chuunin vest on his summoner.

"What trouble did you get yourself into, this time?" asked the ant lion.

"Can we talk about this later, Baka?" requested Takagi with a wince. "Somehow you and I need to beat a Waterfall-nin without actually killing him."

"Waterfall-nin? Seriously, what trouble have you got yourselves into? It's usually that other teammate of yours always in trouble. Fine, fine. But you owe big." obeyed Baka, thinking the condition was worsening by the second. It walked a few steps backwards and began disappearing itself in the ground like it was actually part of it. "Soil is much more difficult to burrow through than sand."

"By the way, you've got some very hairy legs." mentioned Takagi upon remembering the short glance of his summoning's four back legs.

"You've got the nerve to ask for my help and then criticize how I look," said Baka as it's head finally disappeared. Takagi could still hear his summoning's muffled voice under ground. "It's not just for show, it's for anchoring myself in the sand. Gives me a better grip while I put up with a struggling prey."

(Note: I'm not good with this idea of naming characters in Japanese. Always did jumble up some characters name together. I found the word ant lion in Japanese is either usubakagerou or arijigoku; I decided to take the short of baka (stupid) from usubakagerou.)

Takagi didn't hear anything coming from underground after a few minutes, as the ant lion had finally moved away. "All I need to do now is stop this bleeding."

The Sand-nin remembered the little gift he had received earlier, and then unbuttoned the pocket where he remembered keeping it. The tiny crimson red round pill was in between his thumb and index finger, and he was about to put it in his mouth. He heard a rustle of leaves coming from above the tree he was resting to.

"Having a little snack?"

Takagi's eyes widened as he looked up to see the Waterfall-nin standing on the bark of the tree using his chakra tree climbing ability. He was holding something transparent in his hand, something that looked like a sword….

The chakra flowing from the Shirou's feet had stopped, causing him to fall down onto the wounded Sand-nin with the water sword ready for the kill. His prey just stared upwards with the pill still in his hand, as the tip of the sword was about to make its way into his head. The Waterfall-nin had a triumphant smirk as he leapt down.

"I win, boy."

Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I bet you readers must really be hating me right now!

You know the drill, RATE AND REVIEW people! The last chapter didn't get as much reviews at the previous ones. I've got 77 people having this fiction as their alerts and favorites. The least you people could do is send me a simple compliment. It's be the best if someone give some ideas or critics that I could build on and add on my next chapters. I've already got the next chapter half way ready, a few suggestions could spice up the fight a little more.


	14. Confusing beginnings

Kami-sama! I've updated up last! I'm so pissed off with myself right now. The time between updates is getting longer and longer. Studies, revisions, my big bro from college returning, no decent time to write…Aaaargh! Enough with excuses! Exams are almost finishing, so I'll be able to update sooner anytime soon as my long school holiday's coming. THANK YOU! Thank you to all those readers who have sent reviews and those who have helped me in providing me help in fixing some grammar. I'm still expecting reviews from those who haven't sent yet…I'm on to you…

_Italics-thoughts _

**Bold-demon talk

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.

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Yosuke Takagi was totally taken by surprise, as his mind slowly began to comprehend at the sudden sight that was above him. He had long concluded that since his opponent was a long-ranged attacker, thus there was very little chance that Shirou would move in for a close encounter. The Waterfall-nin was reliant on water, something that would prove to be a vital disadvantage if he ever left the small spring of water. That fact was another argument as to why Shirou wouldn't have come in for a close attack. He watched as the end of the water sword made its way downwards, and quickly decided to react.

It was too late.

Shirou had done it when his weapon cut into Takagi's left shoulder, and just let the momentum and force of gravity do the rest as the sword sunk even deeper and deeper. All of a sudden, the apparent wounded Sand-nin exploded into smoke, leaving nothing more but a wooden log in his place. Takagi had managed to perform and place a kawarimi just in the nick of time, and now had found another secluded spot to hide not too far away.

_'Good thing he decided to blabber his mouth out,'_ thought Takagi in relief, breathing hard. The ant-lion summoner had moved on, now hiding himself amidst of the branches. He would definitely have been a goner if his opponent hadn't talk before plunging in with the sword.

Deciding not to waste anymore time, Takagi placed the blood pill into his mouth, with most of his attention on the frustrating Waterfall-nin. The blood pill tasted sour at a moment Takagi's tongue made contact before it was swallowed, and then traveling down the esophagus. He was much surprised that the effect was just as Kabuto had said; it was instantaneous. Whatever it held, its contents were quickly dissolved in his stomach, and were now coursing through his blood system. The Sand Chuunin could feel all of his wounds were quickly being 'patched' up and healing, and eventually got rid of the tired or woozy feeling.

_'Now or never,' _thought Takagi, after figuring out his next move.

Ebora Shirou got up and held on to his weapon, which had struck halfway into the log, as a support. He knew Takagi wasn't too far away, probably being able to hear every word he could say. "Oh come boy! Instead of playing this 'Hide and go seek' game of yours, why don't the both of us just finish this?"

He slowly turned around in three hundred sixty degrees, looking high and low as he continued. "Right here. Right now."

The water sword that was lodged inside the log began to change shape, distorting itself as it bended and coiled around. Takagi took the opportunity and jumped out of his hiding spot, making hand seals, as he was to fall upon his prey. The Sand-nin decided to use to brief, long ranged Fuuton Jutsu.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa no —(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)"

With or without stating the name of the attack, the ant-lion summoner didn't manage to perform his technique as he felt something around his feet. What Takagi saw before being thrown away was a long transparent chain and a weight at its end, one that used to be a sword, now in Shirou's hand.

Fighting there also meant that the trees were also obscuring the spectators' view of the match. Well, except the few shinobis with Doujutsu like the Byakugan that is. All the present Hyuuga had activated their blood limit ability, being able to see the match perfectly. At the place where the Kazekage was sitting, a certain tall ANBU member was getting more annoyed as seconds flew by.

_'I'm SO being ripped off. Because this match is so damn boring.' _commented Kisame in thought, looking at the empty battleground below.

There was nothing new except the newly made small watering hole. Having decided that there were better things to do, Kisame turned his attention to one of the Waterfall-nin bodyguards that was standing right beside Shibuki. The shinobi noticed the look he was getting from the ANBU Sand-nin, now he was feeling nervous all of a sudden. There was Kisame, just gave a wave of hello, which in return took the attention of all the present shinobis that were there. Before Naruto could do anything, probably another burst of killing intent as a warning, or before Gaara could say anything, they saw something shot out from the trees. What they saw was Takagi skidding off the ground before coming to a stop. By the looks of it, he was losing.

Dreadfully.

"Suiton: Hazumi Sattou no Jutsu(Water Release: Spring Rush Technique)" muttered Shirou, walking out from the trees with his final hand seal pointing at the small watering hole.

Takagi was still busy trying to get up and recovering from the nasty throw, before getting hit by another hit of the water jutsu. He was pushed even further and further, again flat on his back, with the sore feeling all over his body. He didn't bother to get up, but that didn't stop his opponent from attacking over and over. After several repetitive hits and rolling, Ebora Shirou gave a look at Anko. However, The Konoha Jounin referee knew better than to announce the winner all too soon. She was standing quite far away, but both fighters knew that she didn't need to see up close to give judgment. The look on her face showed that she knew something that Shirou didn't. She didn't bother to look at the Sand-nin, who was already breathing hard once more, but made no effort to give up.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, boy. But you're way far off before you can actually think of beating me." Announced Shirou. The young man still had his hands in a hand seal, ready to perform another water technique anytime, should Takagi try to retaliate. "I'm by far much better at close range combat than at long range. Of course, if you were smart enough, you would've done better if you'd looked up at all the Jounin exams I've been through. I did when I found out that the Leaf kunoichi turned out to be a Sannin's apprentice. Give up now, and I might consider being just a little bit easy on you before I send you to the emergency room. "

Takagi closed his eyes. "You need to learn to keep your mouth shut. Because. You. Sure. Talk. A. LOT."

Between the numerous seats surrounding the battle arena,

Baki couldn't be anymore confident, an experienced shinobi like him should know better than to be over confident, but there was no way for the Waterfall-nin to win. The Sand Jounin spoke loud enough for Hirami and Chiro to hear. "He fell for it."

"You mean…?" perked up Hirami in realization, suddenly facing her Jounin instructor.

Baki gave a nod, half a smile as the usual white veil covered half of his face.

Chiro leaned forward a little bit closer from his seat. Eager to see when it was going to start, probably anytime soon.

Just as his opponent was about to make another move, the earth beneath him shifted. The soil moved slowly, which lead Shirou to confusion, as the shinobi could slowly feel the sound getting louder and stronger. He thought it was a minor earthquake, but the weird sound didn't match. Minor earthquakes don't actually make sound loud enough for any normal person to hear. As he noticed something about his view was off, he was shocked when he looked down at his dark blue sandals. In a moment, he was sinking. Another moment later, it was as if the ground all around and under him collapsed.

The fellow spectators were astounded as they got the view, looking down at the amazing event that was happening at the battleground. The very few Sand-nins were impressed and pleased as they watched on. The sight was more appealing from where the two Kage sat and several ANBU along with their Jounins were.

"Impressive." complimented Shibuki from his seat with a brief glance at the leader of Sunagakure.

"Impressive indeed." agreed Tsunade.

Gaara "I believe the compliment goes to him and his instructor."

'Well I'll be damned, he's not that bad.' assessed Kisame. 'Of course, that kind of trick wouldn't work on a lot of experienced shinobis.'

Asami beamed under the blue fox ANBU mask, _'Well played.'_

The Waterfall-nin came to realization all too late when he found out the pit was cone shaped, hard and soft soil falling into the very bottom. He could barely Takagi's head, looking down at him.

"Daijigoku, Sunaasobi (Big Hell, Sandpit)" explained Takagi, already answering the question that was in Shirou's mind. A clear sign that meant he had encountered the same situation before, or possibly over and over.

The Waterfall-nin tried to remain calm, but seeing what awaited him at the bottom wasn't really helping. A pair of brown jagged pincers was repeatedly snapping, just to kill the time as its prey in the end was just delaying the inevitable. Shirou couldn't get a firm stand on the slipping sand, much less jump out. He tried to brainstormed possible ideas in getting out the situation. He could perform a water Jutsu or just fight the ant-lion head on.

Of course, Takagi wasn't just going to stand up there and watch.

The Sand-nin held out his hand like a puppeteer, and stayed in the same stance for a few seconds as he looked around at the slipping sand. Now, the spectators were curious as they waited and watched, as the Sand-nin was about to continue on pulling out his next trick. Watching a shinobi tournament would never always be tiresome thing to do. The contestants would pull amazing feats, something old or new, and surprises were present in every turn. It was entertaining, and at the same time important between allied villages. Showing power in front of the feudal lords and important figures.

Evidently, Takagi's next move proved to be more than just show to all the Sand-nins present. He held back his hands in a reeling motion, as kunais and shurikens moved out from several parts of the cone shaped sand pit. Soon enough, they were all floating in mid air and targeted themselves at the Shirou.

"Soushuuha (Manipulate Attacking Blades)!"

(Note: Don't ask me, I have no idea how that short word can be translated that long…)

All of the metallic blades however merely hit Ebora Shirou at his hands and legs, totally disabling him at an instant. A yell of pain resonated through out the stadium, which affected many audiences. Mostly, the newly promoted Genins and some shinobis as they could imagine would it would or had felt like. There was no way the Waterfall-nin could do anything, not now at least, except to simply fall along at the jaws of the ant lion.

Before Anko could interfere and quickly announce the winner, the wounded shinobi cried out. "Okay! I give up! I give up! You win! Get me out of here! "

"Took you long enough," sighed the triumphant Takagi. He just fell on his butt hard on the ground without complaint, and just sat there in exhaustion. The Sand-nin patted the ground in a rhythmic manner, signaling his summoning that was underground. The small explosion of smoke coming from where the jaws used to be was the sign of the ant lion's withdrawal.

Anko motioned her left hand to the now exhausted Takagi, "Winner! Yosuke Takagi!"

Ebora Shirou was wincing and groaning in pain, left at the bottom of the pit while waiting to be rescued. The Waterfall-nin couldn't believe it. He was beaten by a shinobi who was just over half his own age, AND the referee was totally ignoring him.

"Baka is sure going to give a long talk the next time I summon him," murmured Takagi all to himself. He saw Chiro cheering and clapping out loud from his seat, Baki ignoring his student's antics, along with the other amazed spectators.

At the top box, one of Waterfall-nin escorts leaned forward from his place as he about to have a talk with Shibuki. "That young shinobi actually beat Shirou. I suppose that he's probably not being to be promoted in this Jounin exam too? "

"Nah, he didn't disappoint any of us this time like all the previous ones. I hope he's learned something from this sudden defeat of his." answered Shibuki, rubbing his chin.

"So you're going to promote him?" asked another with a quizzical look.

Shibuki watched as medic-nins came in a whirl of leaves. "It's about time we have him in our ranks."

Two Leaf medic-nins were carrying the said shinobi on a stretcher to a medic room for treatment. There were no serious wounds that needed to be treated on the spot.

"That Sand-nin of yours is very talented. Only a year since he graduated from the ninja academy? I was a little bit doubtful, seeing as you granted him and his team permission to take the Jounin exam, right after their promotion to Chuunin." said Tsunade.

Lady Chiyo and Old Man Ebizou were beaming, somehow proud of the new generation of Sand-nins. Soon enough, they would be the ones that will replace the old. They would keep Sunagakure as peaceful as it is, or bring change for the better. What the elder Sand-nins could hope was that they wouldn't repeat or make mistakes as those of old did. The few things that the old generation could do at the moment were to realize their great mistakes in the past. The Shukaku project, the agreement with the Sound…Realize them, rectify them, and just hope nothing like that should happen ever again.

For now, the council members were watching upon the few of the new generation that was already leading and bringing change to Suna: their fifth Kazekage and his group elite ANBU Sand-nins.

Naruto brought out his right hand from under the cloak, which looked more like in attempted strangling manner. Seeing this as a possible threat, Tsunade, Shibuki, including their fellow Leaf and Waterfall-nins all had their eyes on Naruto's hand. Possible ideas whipped up in their minds: A signal? A possible hand seal? A move to a neck?

In fact, it did. The hand did grabbed a neck.

The Waterfall-nins reflexively moved around and shielded their leader, Shibuki, in a protective manner. Sakura practically turned around and held out her fists out ready for a fight. Much to their dismay, the Sand ANBU captain just turned his head around as his right hand massaged the back of his neck, what seem to be nothing more but getting rid the ache in his neck. Their suspicions got the better of them, all three feeling a little bit embarrassed as Kisame was stifling his laughing the best he could as he pointed fingers from where he stood. Sakura and the two Waterfall-nins felt a little bit embarrassed. This however, didn't faze the Leaf and Waterfall-nins' vigilance one bit.

_'A stiff neck? Who do you think you're fooling?'_

It was the same idea that played at their minds. It could still mean as a possible signal for something to start. Tsunade slightly turned to the Leaf Jounin, Kakashi, as he held up his tilted headband protector. The hand could actually be used as a Genjutsu medium, much like the eyes, and every possibility wasn't going to be left out. The three tomoe in his left eyed Sharingan twirled around in cycles, the Doujutsu being able to see through illusions easily.

The silver haired shinobi's action didn't go unnoticed by the four Sand ANBU elites that were standing by their Kazekage's side. Kisame considered the move to be nothing but futile. Asami wasn't least interested, she preferred observing the battle ground, appeared to being repaired by a low ranked Doton jutsu. Right now, the only thing that was bothering Naruto was Kyuubi's echoing chuckle deep in his head.

_'Why bother?'_ mused Kabuto in his place.

Shibuki knew what it meant, but he played along so that the Sand-nins wouldn't realize that Waterfall-nins weren't oblivious to the whole Akatsuki-Sand situation.

"Getting a better view of the next match, Kakashi-san?" asked Shibuki with a smile.

The Copy Ninja turned, "Don't want to miss the action one bit, Shibuki-san. Sasuke's fighting up next."

Kakashi's lie in uncovering his Sharingan was just as noticeable as the fact that the neck massage made by Naruto. The tension was getting higher than ever, yet no one has made a single move. What worried Tsunade was what were the Sand-nins up to? They were completely outnumbered, around nineteen Sand-nins: One Kazekage, two village council members, three Jounins, ten ANBU, and three Chuunins. Meanwhile, all the spectators saw Uchiha Sasuke who had just teleported himself right in front of Anko in a swirl of leaves, as his turn finally came.

_'At least he's not late like last time.'_ commented Kabuto.

Their prey finally walked in, Orochimaru, the young Grass kunoichi took her time walking from her side of the stadium towards both Leaf shinobis. The snake bastard must be up to something, being right there in front of all these people, thinking he could get away with whatever he's up to. He did the same thing when he killed Sandaime Hokage. Back then; he had the attacking armies of both Sand and Sound.

Seeing as Yakushi Kabuto used to be the right hand man of the treacherous Sannin, he had the vague idea of what he was probably up to. He wasn't totally worried, he also felt curious. 'I wonder what's he up to this time.'

Sasuke made eye-to-eye contact, his Sharingan still not activated, with the kunoichi only known as Yashiharu Taiyama.

Mitarashi Anko raised her right hand up, "Second Round! Uchiha Sasuke versus Yashiharu Taiyama! Begin!"

Kabuto crouched down and began performing hand seals, making the first move that startled Tsunade, Shibuki, and their shinobis in their place. Tsunade and her Konoha shinobis stood up on the right, with Shibuki and his Waterfall-nins on the left side, surrounding the Sand-nins. Just as they faced each other for the upcoming brawl, the rest of the Sand ANBU elites made their move.

Naruto alone moved in between Tsunade, Kakashi, Shizune, and Sakura. This caused the Fifth Hokage to held up her hand for her three Leaf-nins to stop. Asami and Kisame jumped in at the same as Naruto did, holding up his Samehada, to the left side as they both shielded the two council members and Gaara from the Waterfall-nins.

Kabuto finished his technique with a ram seal, channeling the appropriate amount of chakra. "Nehan Shoja no Jutsu (Temple of Nirvana Technique)."

Everyone in the whole stadium saw something very peculiar right in front of them, as some did during the Chuunin final exam three years ago. There were little burning embers floating right in front of them like fireflies. They weren't the ones that you'd found between burned wood or ashes, more like those floating up into the air during a huge open fire. This time, the Leaf shinobis were prepared from a Genjutsu attack unlike the previous time. Neither one of the Chuunins that used to make the Rookie Nine needed to be told or pass out from the illusionary technique. There were also several Genins included.

Amidst the crowd of average citizens that were already falling unconscious, Ebisu warned his Genins. "Konohamaru! Udon! Moegi!"

"We know, Ebisu-sensei!" chorused the Konohamaru Corp.

All the Leaf-nins clasped their hands and performed the counter seal, just as their Hokage were doing. The all too recognizable fingers clasped together with the index and middle fingers pointing out, "Kai (Release)!"

The Genjutsu was the signal, as the six scattered ANBU Sand-nins got ready to perform their own specific tasks. Baki was prepared as the surrounding Leaf-nins in his part slowly turned their attentions towards him. The odds of fighting all these Leaf-nins didn't look good.

"Oh boy…" mumbled Chiro nervously.

Kabuto was a bit in awe, seeing as there were a lot more shinobis awake than he expected. 'Amazing as ever. So they've prepared themselves even further.'

However, he had his own things to take care of since Kakashi narrowed his eyes on him. The man of a thousand jutsus pointed his kunai out. "I should have known it was you."

Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura turned to Kakashi a bit. Curious as to whom Kakashi was referring to. The Fifth Hokage asked "A friend of yours, Kakashi?"

Kabuto had finished his part, now joined to Naruto's side, and faced Kakashi. "You were always too slow to realize what was around you before it was too late, Kakashi-san."

If Kisame wasn't busy minding his own business, the ex-Akatsuki member would have said something like, 'Looks like the cat's out the bag. Get it?' Thinking about it, Kabuto thought that was already more than enough.

"All four of us have met him before, Hokage-sama." answered Kakashi in frustration, a bit angry with himself for not realizing any earlier. "He's Yakushi Kabuto."

The ex-right hand man of Orochimaru took of his cat ANBU mask with his right hand, and his cloak with the left. He had satisfaction and happiness all over his face, seeing the look of the three kunoichi's faces.

"Where's Orochimaru?" asked Tsunade, straight to the point.

"Around here somewhere." Kabuto shrugged, playing dumb. "In fact, he's somewhere right here in this stadium."

Sakura panicked, "Wait! If Orochimaru's here, does that mean he's after Sasuke-kun!"

"Most probably." answered Kabuto with no interest, pushing the bridge of his glasses.

Which indeed was the truth. It wasn't a lie, but the way he said it just made people kept on thinking that he was still working under the Snake Sannin.

Sakura looked for Sasuke down at the battleground, fearing he had disappeared just like he did when he went off to chase after Gaara in his first Chuunin exam. She was relieved when she found out that he was still there. Just standing there, with Anko and the Grass-nin kunoichi. Her fear and panic got worse when she recalled Orochimaru's face in the Forest of Death.

Tsunade took the opportunity to deliver a side-kick and was launching it right at Kabuto's ribs just as Kakashi made his move against Naruto. The ANBU captain's hand caught Kakashi's hand with his right, but the Leaf Jounin made a punch with his left hand. Naruto easily tilted his head, dodging the short-ranged attack, not being able to see the confident faces on Shizune and Sakura. Kakashi's left fist opened up and grabbed the back of Naruto's head. Closing in, eye to eye contact, with Kakashi's left Sharingan eye that had its three tomoe spiraling like a wheel. Again, Kakashi was confused, as he remained eye-to-eye contact with the ANBU Sand-nin for what seemed to be more than enough to cast a Genjutsu.

In other words, the Sharingan wasn't working. Then again, there was the slight possibility of him being Uchiha Itachi, thus Kakashi should've known Genjutsu wouldn't work.

Kakashi received a hard knee to his abdomen, that would've sent him flying back, but Naruto still had his hand around Kakashi's right wrist. However he did flew back as the ANBU captain grabbed him by his neck with his free hand and threw him at Shizune right when she was going in to replace Kakashi. He turned to Sakura, expecting to find her with her fits with the strength much like Tsunade's. Meanwhile, Tsunade's fist didn't make contact with Kabuto's face at all; it was making contact with something else. A small shield of sand to be precise. Kabuto's mask had disintegrated to sand, and took the full blow of the Godaime Hokage.

Gaara made himself noticed, considering Tsunade and the Leaf-nins had been focusing on his ANBU Sand-nins. "I believe you're probably as to what is going here, Hokage-dono."

"Skip the formalities, Gaara," replied Tsunade. "I was suspicious enough of you when I wondered about the identities of these ANBU of yours. But I'd never thought you'd make a deal of the very man that killed your father. I sure like to hear what in the world lead to this."

The Fifth Kazekage confronted the Fifth Hokage, "Then I will, but not hear."

"What do you mean 'not here'?" Tsunade had a puzzled look. She could sense from Gaara's eyes that he wasn't bluffing. In fact, the Shukaku vessel didn't sound like he wanted to fight, show any form of aggression, or intent of destroying Konoha. Shinobi or not, she knew that he wasn't lying.

"I will explain everything. Up on the roof." replied Gaara.

"Fine." Tsunade didn't care the idea if it was a trap or the idea of her probably fighting a Jinchuuriki. She did say that she wanted to hear what was actually happening.

"But Tsunade-sama…" interrupted Shizune.

Both Gaara and Tsunade jumped up to the roof above before Shizune could finish what she wanted to say.

"What's really going on here, Kabuto?" demanded Kakashi. Expecting Kabuto to just give out the answer like an obedient child.

A lot of things needed to be answered. Questions kept on rising, unable to be answered or just a matter of time. But more questions popped up before the previous could be answered, which lead to more question if tried to be linked with one another. The destruction of Hidden Sound? A possible Akatsuki intervention? Then how about the returning of Sasuke at the Konoha front gates? Wouldn't it be easier if they had just kill Sasuke if it was to prevent Orochimaru from obtaining the Sharingan? Why were there known Akatsuki members now acting as Sand-nins?

"You'll know, in time," replied Kabuto.

Sakura gritted her teeth, her fingers flexing under the brown gloves. "I'm not going to let you take away Sasuke-kun."

The pink haired kunoichi punched the concrete wall beside her to make a point; with the effects were just as Tsunade would have done it herself. Lady Chiyo raised an eyebrow where she stood behind Naruto and Kabuto, whilst Ebizou made a back glance. After that, the two veteran shinobis had confirmed that the news of Tsunade taking an apprentice. Sakura felt a bit satisfied having the attention, yet she still felt angered since the ANBU captain, Kisame, and Asami just ignored her.

At least Kakashi knew, from the way that Kabuto was saying, that the glass wearing shinobi could answer all his questions.

Since they were all standing in a very limited space, Sakura thought that she could just punch the ground and just let everyone fall down to the level below. She made a fist, but Kakashi shook his head with his hand over Sakura's. The advantage was still there, a confine space where there shouldn't too much movement or time to react. The silver haired Jounin instructor took the chance as he threw out several shurikens. Then Shibuki and the Waterfall-nins joined in as they too threw kunais and shurikens from their side. Kisame turned his sword flat; the blade's long width deflected some of the Waterfall-nins' shurikens. Kabuto deflected a few with his own kunai, realizing that Kakashi was making a hand seal. Distracted for several seconds, Shizune rolled her sleeve, and four poison needles right at Kabuto.

Naruto used the arm guards of his right hand from under the cloak to block every single one of them. Kakashi's plan in tricking the both them with what seem to be an attempt at performing a Jutsu had worked. Another Hatake Kakashi just exploded out of nowhere, definitely a shadow clone, and hugged Naruto tightly.

"Now Sakura!" ordered the real Kakashi who was crouched a bit.

The said kunoichi jumped over her Jounin instructor and focused a huge amount of energy into her clenched fist. The super human strength ability was a precise release of huge amounts of chakra mustered into the muscles and released altogether at the same time. Her punch went through the shadow clone, which exploded, into nothingness the moment her glove touched the back of its head. Now Naruto's ANBU mask received a full blow much how Gaara's sand had a few minutes ago. The effects weren't nice.

He was sent, head first; amazingly right pass Lady Chiyo, Ebizou, Kisame, Asami, and the three Waterfall-nins. The Sand ANBU captain's back crashed through the two chairs where Gaara and Shibuki sat before it collided hard at the solid wall on the other end. It didn't move, as it looked stuck in between the cracks of the wall. Shibuki and his two Waterfall-nins assumed that had done it.

Kakashi and Shizune suspected the worse, 'Walking away from that spar last night, that punch probably didn't even hurt him much.'

They thought that they shouldn't have jinxed it.

Naruto shifted his fingers ever so slightly, but Sakura wasn't going to let him live any further. She knew that there was no way that she'd get pass through the Sand-nins and deliver more blows before the ANBU captain would move again. Tsunade's apprentice dug her fingers into the floor beneath her, pulling out a chunk the size of one's abdomen out of the floor with just her right hand. The Sand-nins and Waterfall-nins just stared transfixed, not doing anything, at the sight that was the strength of a Sannin's apprentice. She threw the chunk of concrete floor at Naruto like it was nothing more like a ball, hitting him squarely at his abdomen. Now he was imbedded further into the crack, and stopped moving.

"Nice one, Sakura." cheered Shizune.

"Thanks but-" the pink haired kunoichi was speechless when she watched the council member Ebizou threw a kunai right at the imbedded chunk of concrete. The reason why she was speechless was that it had an explosive tag on it.

"Run!" shouted Kakashi as he pulled Shizune and Sakura, thinking of jumping out to the roof or down. The Waterfall-nins were the closest in range with the exploding tag. They were doomed, but the two guards shielded over Shibuki, hoping they could save their leader.

Explosions could be heard everywhere.

There were explosions of smoke and light taking place all round the stadium, leading to surprise, confusion, and disorder to the Konoha shinobis. Some were blinded by light and others tried to remain calm or make their way out of the smoke. No harm was done, just a few flash bombs and smoke bombs, which were confusing them further more. A group pf several Jounins and Chuunins that each had surrounded a Sand-nin were more confused. Especially when they found out that the ANBU Sand-nin were still standing there.

In a different part of the stadium, Team 10 slowly recovered. Asuma and his three Chuunins used their other senses, seeing as their eyes were slowly recovering. The whole section in which he was guarding had been planted with flash bombs. Nara Shikamaru finally opened his eyes; recovering from burst of light that took all of them by surprise, to find out that Temari was long gone. 'Troublesome…really troublesome.'

The only real explosion that could've brought harm was the one that blew up at the top box where the leaders of the villages seated. Shibuki's guards were surprised to find themselves pretty much alive: there was no scratch whatsoever. Just covered in white grayish dust of crumbled concrete. The impact of the blast was just big enough to destroy the small chunk of concrete that Naruto had. Small pieces of black and brown cloth that used to be the cloak that the ANBU captain worn fell down like shredded newspapers.

"Are you alright, Shibuki-sama?" asked the guard, as they were concerned with their priority than themselves.

The leader of the Waterfall-nins coughed a little, "I should be asking you that."

The Leaf-nins and their ally didn't know what to say, seeing the Sand-nins haven't crouched or took cover in any form at all. Kisame and Asami were too covered in dusts of white, Kabuto looking at Ebizou. "Wasn't that a bit too much? He could've moved that himself, Ebizou-sama."

The old man, at least in his late seventies didn't seem to mind what he had done. "He wouldn't have mind."

Kisame and Asami were still standing there, haven't moved an inch, as thought already knew that their ANBU captain would probably be walking out of the larger crack anytime soon. The shinobis in the top box beside the Sand-nins thought that they were crazy. Several seconds later, they could hear movements coming from the ANBU captain used to be. A hand grabbed the side of a cracks, soon enough followed by the demon masked Sand-nin himself. The few remaining piece of the cloak was singed and completely tethered.

Shibuki's eyes widened slightly in disbelief, and whispered. "Impossible…."

When Shibuki had finished, the red demon ANBU mask had begun to crack. Starting from the very point where Sakura's knuckles touched it, it spread out like spider's web. Pieces of the broken mask fell onto the floor, before crumbling into the brown fine sand.

Kakashi, Sakura, and Shizune were about to see the face of the Sand ANBU captain.

They saw it.

Things didn't make sense. In fact, the Leaf-nins' minds now had more questions that needed to be answered. Kabuto wished he had brought a camera when he saw the confused look on their faces.

Down at the battleground,

Yashiharu Taiyama, Uchiha Sasuke, and Mitarashi Anko hadn't done much since they noticed Kabuto performing the Genjutsu technique. Orochimaru was confused and a bit curious as to what was going on the moment Kabuto was done with his part. He wasn't going to lose this chance or let this ruin his plan. Akatsuki or not, nobody was going to interfere with his plans of obtaining Sasuke's body this time.

Orochimaru made a hand seal with only right hand, the same index and middle finger outward, and begun.

"Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique)!"

Anko and Sasuke froze in their place, taken by surprise, as they were unable to move any part of their body around. The Leaf kunoichi was helpless as Orochimaru had his eyes on her, now using his own voice. He chuckled in amusement, "Isn't this a blissful reunion? My dear Anko…"

The Snake Sannin turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke…"

Orochimaru's plan was a risky one, but he thought it was going to be worth all the effort. His last remaining, recently recruited Sound-nins, underlings will jump out of the ground before any shinobi realizes and tries to interfere. They will perform the Shishi Enjin (Four Violet Flames Battle Formation), and Orochimaru would then summon his small army of sixteen dead Kage shinobis. He only needed to perform two techniques and then flee. His chakra capacity would be just enough for both of them. The Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei (Summon: Impure World Resurrection) technique, which should be more than enough to lead the destruction of Konoha. There will be no interference when he performs it as he had planned it. That and then use his own created Forbidden technique, the body transfer, Fushi Tensei (Living Corpse Reincarnation). Then it would be the last time he'll ever run away from anyone ever again.

Between Anko and Sasuke, Sasuke wasn't scared or worried at the sudden appearance of their former mentor.

"Tell me something Sasuke, have you found the power you've desired to kill your brother? Right here, along with your so called 'friends'?" Orochimaru smiled

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, the blood limit Sharingan activated, "Pity how Raiha can't see how really weak you've become."

Orochimaru's smile faltered as his mind registered upon the familiar tone, voice, and the word Raiha. Only Akatsuki members knew each other's names, Jiraiya probably knew a few. This Akatsuki member had the Sharingan. Orochimaru had an Uchiha standing in front him all right, except this one wasn't the one he was looking far. Since there were currently only two Uchiha left, the one standing in front of him could only be the one he wasn't looking for. This Uchiha would be the one that he had been avoiding no matter what. Simple as that.

Orochimaru had his yellow slit snake eyes focused on Itachi's Sharingan.

Bad move.

OH GOD! WHAT A BUMMER! IT'S LIKE READING THE LATEST NARUTO MANGA CHAPTER AND FOUND OUT THIS IS THE LAST PAGE…ANNOYING ISN'T IT? YOU KNOW THE DRILL! RATE AND REVIEW PEOPLE! PLEASE…? SINCE THE NEXT ONE WOULD BE MUCH BETTER…I NEED MORE REVIEWS, CRITICS, AND SOME SUGGESTIONS. A GOOD JOB WOULD DO. CROSS OVER 220 PEOPLE!


	15. Being outnumbered

AH HA HA HA HA! My school holiday has started, and I'll be able to update the chapter back to normal. Let it be that I'll update everything I have typed so far every week or just update when I reach over 15 pages in one chapter. Point is, updates will much faster. THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.**

Italics-flashback, or thoughts**  
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**Bold-Demon talking  
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The pieces of ANBU mask fell down to the ground, shocked and wilderment etched upon the faces of the Waterfall-nins and Leaf-nins. Kabuto crossed his arms over his chest, admiring the effect the shocking revelation it had on them. Sakura was mostly confused; Shizune was trying to put pieces together, as Kakashi was again pissed with himself. Why was so unaware of such possibility? The flash of explanations trying to make logic began through Kakashi's mind. Why his own Sharingan couldn't work against him when the both of them achieved eye t eye contact. How that could have explained how the Sand-nin could survive the immense strength of a Sannin or her apprentice. How the impact of an explosion note strong enough to destroy a small chunk of concrete. Walking away like it was nothing more but annoyance. 

The ANBU captain walked over the small heap of sand.

He was not human.

Correction. 'It'. 'It' wasn't human. It may look like a human, but it just wasn't. It was a marionette.

"How can that be?" asked Sakura in confusion.

Hatake Kakashi tried to look for the chakra strings controlling the puppets movements, which would trace back all the way to its puppeteer. The chakra threads were very fine, judging by how thin the puppeteer had managed to hide their presence, and he or she must be greatly skilled. A thin wire is hard enough to be detected by the naked eye: a Doujutsu let it be Byakugan or Sharingan would have problems realizing the presence of threads of chakra. Especially when expert puppeteers like the two senior Sand-nins such as Lady Chiyo and Ebizou made them.

It was possible.

Kabuto noted, "From that look of realization on your face, Kakashi-san, at least you seem to know about some of the things going on around here."

"Know about what?" asked Sakura,

The puppet walked back towards its place just before it was sent off flying by Sakura's punch. No Waterfall-nin tried to stop it, either way, since it just hovered over them and continued on walking. Kakashi was finally able to find the source of the chakra threads, which further explained a lot of things. The council member, Lady Chiyo, which was behind Kabuto, was the one controlling the puppet

"It looks like he found out, sister." Ebizou turned his head slightly towards the old woman that was his sibling.

The puppet clicked its mouth several times, its neck made several full turns, before it just cracked and shattered like its own ANBU mask earlier.

Its puppeteer just kept on looking at the son of the Konoha White Fang, "Yes he did. You might as well show them since he's eventually going to find it."

Ebizou complied as he began molding more chakra into his fingertips, thickening the chakra threads that made it easy enough for Kakashi to see them with his Sharingan. Kakashi didn't know just how bad the situation was going to get today. He had never been continuously surprised more than once in one day.

"Which of them is the puppeteer, Kakashi?" asked Shizune.

"Both," The silver haired Jounin tried to remain calm, "The both of them are puppeteers."

"Both?" repeated Sakura, her green eyes on the puppet.

"Our ANBU Sand-nin over here isn't the only puppet here," elaborated Kakashi, he pointed at both the ANBU Sand-nins that were guarding in front of Ebizou.

"You don't mean-" realized Sakura with widened eyes. "Except Kabuto, all these ANBU Sand-nins are nothing more but puppets."

Just then, several cracks could be heard, coming from the masks that were from Kisame's and Asami's own. It was as Kakashi had said; the two of them were puppets just like the ANBU captain. Their mouths chattered like how Kankurou's Karasu would, blades shot out and had cut through their cloaks as they gave a more intimidating look.

Shizune was careful, "Are you sure? Who knows, he could probably be using a henge and change himself into a puppet. There is the small possibility that the chakra strings could be nothing more but a ploy."

"Listen to her, she might be on to something." said Kabuto with a raised eyebrow. The happy look on his face showed this was greatly amusing him. "Of course, the longer you stay here, the situation down there could get much worse than it already is by the passing second."

Sakura, Shizune, and the Waterfall-nins were waiting for Kakashi to make judgment.

Kakashi had to admit it, the glass wearing shinobi could be right. Staying here wasn't doing them anything good. None of them had the slightest idea what the Sand-nins and Akatsuki are up to. 'These ANBU Sand-nins could be the real deal, or just puppets. If these three right in front of him were puppets, then where were the real ones? There isn't a Jinchuuriki right here except Gaara. The idea of Orochimaru somewhere in this place also needed to be taken into note.

"The next move is yours, Kakashi-san." gestured Kabuto as he always like being on the top of things, and clarify them. "Stay here or leave. I'm already done with my part, just as Chiyo-ba-sama and Ebizou-sama have done theirs. All we need to do now is just sit back and watch as to what you and your fellow comrades are going to do now."

"They could really be just the distractions," said Shibuki between his two Waterfall-nins. "The real threat could be down there somewhere, anywhere but here while we could be wasting precious time with them."

Kakashi already knew them, and he thought the ANBU guards that were stationed all around the stadium could handle or at least stall any threat brewing from wherever the real Akatsuki members could be at the moment. However, he remembered how Kabuto alone could just as easily hand a group of ANBU Leaf-nins. Hatake Kakashi looked around at the stadium. All the Leaf Jounins and Chuunins (Especially the remaining Rookie Nine and Team Gai) had surrounded the few ANBU Sand-nins and Baki's team.

But he didn't detect any ANBU Leaf-nins that had been stationed around the corridors or passageways in the stadium. They should have realized the upcoming Genjutsu that Kabuto had just performed and check around what went amidst.

Something had definitely happened to their ANBU.

He had to make a decision. He remembered about Orochimaru and looked for Sasuke at the large battleground below. Sakura followed Kakashi's gaze, and both of their minds snapped upon the idea of a Grass kunoichi. That Grass-nin down there could be Orochimaru just like how he had disguised himself three years ago. Sakura did tell him everything that had happened in the Forest of Death. He needed some confirmations first.

Kakashi bit his thumb, followed by the customary seals needed in summoning his ninja dogs. Seeing as the Sand-nins didn't go to the trouble of interrupting him, Shibuki and his suspicions about them being distractions might be true. With his open palm striking the cement floor, ancient seals opened out like a web, Kakashi said, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

'Just about time, the illusion's already coming off.' noted Kabuto. He twirled his kunai playfully at the sight of Kakashi's dog, Pakkun. "Let me save you the time, the real ones you're supposed to be worried about had already right before Sasuke's match had even started."

Kakashi was bewildered, but maintained his composure, getting a grip on the situation.

"There was more than just one Genjutsu performed, and all of you didn't notice when it began or dispelled off." continued Kabuto. "The time was more than enough to perform a switch right under your nose, or better yet. Right before you very Sharingan."

Kakashi wasn't sure if that was possible, but gave out his order. "Sakura! Shizune! I need you to check and alert all the ANBU Leaf-nins that had been stationed all through the staircases, corridors, and passageways. Pakkun here will follow you."

The two kunoichi were a bit doubtful. Shizune peeked to the corner of her eyes at the commanding Kakashi. "Are you sure…? I mean, if what he says at least contain a speck of truth, when did that happen? Or how is it possible?"

"Most likely when that ANBU captain help out his hand right in between the matches." theorized Kakashi. Considering Kabuto's ever widening smirk, he must be correct. "We fell right through his trap."

"Time isn't flying on your side, Kakashi." Kabuto reminded. "So let me save you the time and just go right ahead, be my guest." He gestured with a side step. He drew back his kunai and put it back into his weapons pouch that was under the cloak. Even Lady Chiyo slightly moved her fingers and hands, as her puppet took several step backwards.

Both medic-nins wasted no time as they ran to the door as fast as their feet could carry them, Pakkun following beside them. As Kabuto had said earlier, neither one of the three Sand-nins made no attempt to intervene nor anything, as they just watched the Leaf-nins ran past them.

Shibuki offered his services to Kakashi, "Anything we can do to help?"

Hatake Kakashi had decided to go down and call upon several other Jounins or possible present ANBU Leaf-nins as he went down to the battleground. Leaving Shibuki and his Waterfall-nins to watch over the Sand-nins wouldn't do much of a difference. Kabuto, Lady Chiyo, and Old man Ebizou could just handle or even kill any of them without the slightest difficulty. He could tell them to go get help as he watched Kabuto and the two, but that would take time in coming to Sasuke's aid. He can't spend his time only to realize it was a waste, let it be to stand guard of the three Sand-nins that could possibly be a distraction. Either that or in arriving to help Sasuke knowing it was all too late.

"Kage Bunshin!" muttered Kakashi, followed by several explosions of his shadow clones.

He had made eight of them, four on the Waterfall-nin's side with four on his. Kakashi had his leg on the railing, looking back at Shibuki before jumping down. "Go somewhere safe, Shibuki. We'll handle them, and my clones here will watch over them, though I think they wouldn't do any much good."

Shibuki and his two guards looked insulted, since the Leaf Jounin had just told them to flee for safety. Of course, he was probably right in considering the safety of their ally and mention that they could just easily handle the matter themselves. Hidden Waterfall had very limited shinobis in number, something that a life lost could prove to be very grave lost than a village of the five elemental countries. Of course, not that human life was really that expendable. However, the leader of the Waterfall-nins noticed that Kakashi hadn't left just yet. Kakashi's smile, even under the mask, was evident as he continued on. "Of course, you could go help us round up the other Sand-nins scattered all around the stadium.

"I prefer the last option," agreed Shibuki, as he and the two Waterfall-nins followed the real Kakashi down to the battleground.

Kabuto just rested his arm and leaned on the one of the last two remaining seats that had not been destroyed by the puppet, as it had went crashing into the concrete wall several minutes ago.

The male medic-nin smirked, "Do you really think this would work, Kakashi? I mean, shadow clones…? You must really think highly of yourself to even come up with this idea of using several Kage Bunshin to overpower these veterans of Sunagakure."

At the same time, through the passage away, Pakkun's nose twitched several times as he led Sakura and Shizune. The dog had followed the trailing of the scents he had picked up earlier.

"What's wrong?" asked Shizune worriedly.

"There had been three people going through here very recently," noted the small brown dog.

Sakura was relieved that her sensei had made the right decisions, "So Kakashi-sensei's suspicions were right."

Taking in a few more sniffs, "That's odd…I've smelled one of the three scents before…"

"Can you remember who?" continued Shizune.

The dog's nose touched the floor to get a better scent, "No, can't really tell. It's like a mixture; the smell is entwined with another. We should continue, may be we'll find something helpful."

Pakkun didn't need to tell them that they're near one ANBU guard. Sakura didn't have the slightest idea of an ANBU being stationed there as they had walked through here earlier before. They had found an ANBU Leaf-nin laid face flat on the ground with his ANBU mask still on. They quickened their pace and were going to check on the shinobi.

Sakura could sense it, "He's alive."

Shizune dropped to her knees right away, turning the body of the ANBU Leaf-nin around. She was about to check for a pulse, but stopped when she sensed the shinobi's breath.

"Yes, thankfully, he's alive." answered Shizune in relief.

Sakura crouched down a bit, "Someone knocked him unconscious?"

The black haired kunoichi touched the shinobi's forehead, her hand glowing in green chakra. She shook her head, "No, it's Genjutsu. The strange thing is, this genjutsu could have easily been countered by any ANBU."

"She's right. I don't know how one of the three did it, but it seems they just kept going on without stopping."

"Let me try, Kakashi-sensei did say I had a talent for Genjutsu." suggested Sakura in a hurry.

"Should I wait?" asked the dog summoning.

"No. Go on ahead with Sakura. We'll split up. Go check on the other ANBU Leaf-nins; undo the illusion that's on them. We need them awake as fast and as many as possible." ordered Shizune.

"Hai!" obeyed Sakura since Shizune was her superior, and of course correct in giving the orders anyways.

Shizune watched as Sakura and Pakkun disappeared by turning to a corner. _'Worse comes to worse, they're all probably unconscious just as this one. But why would they leave our ANBU alive?'_

The Sannin apprentice and Pakkun were surprised once more at the scene that lay before her. As far as the corridor could stretch in her view before turning again, she saw several ANBU Leaf-nins unconscious on the ground. It appeared to be that they all had been knocked out from the very place that they stood. One had his head tilted like he had just fallen asleep, while another was in a rather silly position. Face sideways to the wall, hands outstretched like a frog, with his knees on the floor and rear up high. Someone must have moved him into this sort of position.

One question ran through Haruno Sakura's mind. 'How could they have done this?'

The state between the Sand-nins and the Kakashi shadow clones remained the same. Before any of the Kakashi shadow clones could do anything, one of the four that was near the Naruto puppet just burst into a smoky oblivion. Everyone including Kabuto, Chiyo, and Ebizou were startled. However, the Sand-nin veteran raised a finger. The Kisame puppet shot out its right hand, along with the large wrapped sword in its grip, towards one of the four shadow clones on its side. Its large blade penetrated through the Kakashi clone just seconds before it too exploded into smoke.

Two down, six more to go.

The three Sand-nins didn't seem to making an effort as all four shadow clones were taken out in a single attack. An attack that had actually cut through their torsos, and would probably left pieces of them if they hadn't disappeared. The two remaining clones looked around, trying to find the source of the attacks, as they guarded themselves.

"If you're just the distraction, why bother taking my clones out?" asked the shadow clone Kakashi.

"It's the very presence of the clones that's actually bothering me," countered Kabuto with a push at the bridge of his glasses.

With that, both shadow clones just had their heads knocked together very hard. The pain was hard enough to destroy them, instead of strikes that would actually kill them. It was like all six shadow clones had been attacked by an invisible enemy.

Kabuto looked around, "You there? Kisame? Asami? Na-"

Just right then, the real three ANBU Sand-nins appeared out of nowhere as their genjutsu cloaking techniques wore off. Kisame was standing right behind where the four Kakashi clones had been disposed off just as Asami was behind the last two. Naruto appeared in front of the puppet that had played his position while he was away.

"Now THAT was satisfying." said Kisame. The hilt of his Samehada was rested on his right shoulder, still wrapped. "They were nothing but clones, but still."

Asami inspected the headless puppet and looked pass it to get an unobstructed view of the newly formed large hole on the concrete wall. "Pinky did both?"

"Actually, yes." answered Kabuto.

"She seems very promising, the Slug woman must be proud." commented Ebizou. He cut off the chakra strings, and watched his two puppets fall down to the ground before exploding like a disintegrated clone.

"We actually ran pass them along the way, just like the rest of the ANBU Leaf-nins. The pooch accompanying the two must be Kakashi's summoning right?" Asami directed the question to her husband.

"Yeah." Naruto answered briefly and turned his sight to the battleground; Itachi and Orochimaru hadn't made the slightest move since Anko shouted the match to begin.

"This must be the part that I sit down and watch as to whatever is going to happen." sighed Chiyo, now sitting back on her seat.

Kabuto wondered, directing a question at his captain. "So, I take it everything went well?"

----------------------------------What actually had happened---------------------------------------

Uzumaki Naruto held out his right hand in a strangling manner, everyone skip every Sand-nin in the top box had looked at him. His hand to be precise, which was just very much the way he intended how it would turn out to be. The Kyuubi vessel began casting his genjutsu over them with his hand as the activating medium. He didn't need to use eyes like the Sharingan or perform seals to perform a Genjutsu. Naruto backed away, this time none of the Waterfall-nins or the Leaf-nins turned, which meant he had succeeded.

Then Asami and Kisame moved to the back, following their captain as they had planned. The three Sand-nins became aware of Kakashi revealing his Sharingan, but they were in no worry. The silver haired Jounin was staring right through Naruto, Kisame, and Asami. The ANBU captain disregarded his ex-Jounin instructor, and held a finger to the mouth of his demon mask in ushering the two council members to be silent. Lady Chiyo and Old man Ebizou were speechless, the Sharingan hadn't the slightest idea there was a Genjutsu. They weren't there in the night's event when Naruto had sparred with Sasuke.

Naruto knew and could perform Genjutsu. In truth, Naruto wasn't really a Genjutsu specialist.

_--Begin Flashback--_

_"I…I think I finally got it!" shouted Naruto a bit excited with himself, trying to get Kyuubi's attention._

_The Nine tailed Fox Demon reacted quite the opposite, **"About time, brat."**_

_Naruto had just perfected his control over Kyuubi's chakra, which meant that he would soon be learning Ninjutsu far easier, or at least not as problematic as they usually would. Thus, some of the time that Naruto's teachers had planned in spending to learn Ninjutsu could be added to other things. His teachers were Kyuubi, Raetsu, Itachi, Kisame, and Asami. All together, they had discussed and divided into teaching their specialties for better and faster effect. It had been a strenuous whole month in his mindscape, though in reality it was only ten days._

_As planned, he was progressing much better than their own expectations, though most of the lessons were only the basics like chakra control. For now, in the brief period of spending time together, Naruto had finally achieved a form of mutual relationship with Kisame and Itachi. Mutual annoyance, mutual hatred, and off course the mutual displeasure in each other's presence. They annoyed him, and he was annoyed with them._

_"So what am I going to learn next, eh, damn fox?" asked Naruto, with a confident look at his current teacher. Thinking that he's going to get the next lesson a bit faster. Kyuubi did say everything would go much smoother if he finally mastered controlling Kyuubi's chakra._

_**"Watch your mouth to who you're talking to, brat," **snarled the Nine Tailed Fox Demon upon the momentary sign of disrespect._

_Naruto wasn't least frightened, he was already used to Kyuubi's rather sudden change of personalities. "Hah! Look who's talking! You hypocritical fox! We can go through this over and over, just like we always do ever since you managed to start rambling to my mind. You stop calling me brat, and I'll drop the whole damn fox calling."_

_**"Enough said, we will move on." **replied Kyuubi. Thinking up something that could be beneficial for his host, and pleasurable to his eyes. His fangs bore like he was snarling, although he was in fact smiling._

_Naruto gritted his teeth nervously, nothing good ever comes after a smile like that. Which had been happening from the time when he started his training._

_Kyuubi continued, **"Consider yourself a very lucky human. What I'm about to teach you is something that all us foxes have enjoyed doing in ridiculing humans over time and time again."**_

_"Ridicule? All I know is that your form of enjoyment is to destroy." explained Naruto._

_His 'teacher' continued without bother to care what Naruto had to say, **"Tricking the human mind, or as you humans call it 'Genjutsu'. "**_

_"Genjutsu? You? You're going to teach me Genjutsu?" inquired Naruto with a disbelieving look. "What kind of Genjutsu?"_

_**"An inhuman one,"** answered Kyuubi in arrogance. **"No human, not even with those pathetic red eyes, can do anything. So again, consider yourself a very lucky human in getting the opportunity to learn this."**_

_"But then how come you lost to Yondaime?" asked Naruto in bewilderment._

_Kyuubi grunted, **"I didn't lose you brat. Considering how I'm just sealed inside your belly while he's sealed inside the Shinigami (Death God), I think we both know who's doing much better. Using too much of it takes out most of the fun in battling, especially when used repeatedly after hundreds of years. Battling that human you call Yondaime, I consider myself lucky to never have played with illusions. No human OR demon ever fought like the way he did."**_

_Naruto was amazed, Kyuubi somehow respects Yondaime, or at least in a very hateful loathing sort of way. Either way, the point was clear, the Fourth Hokage was by no doubt a great man to even gain the respects of a demon. Especially after the soul ripped out of the body, and spending existence in the body of the very type of being he so hated._

_"But I've got no talent whatsoever in Genjutsu at all. Back in the academy..." frowned Naruto._

_He cursed himself for remembering about that place, about those memories, and especially about those people. "Besides, you were there when Itachi was here last time, he said that I'm better off learning how to recognize or counter Genjutsu attacks. Not how to actually learn it."_

_Kyuubi didn't like the damn fox calling, and he definitely didn't like that sort of attitude coming from the blonde shinobi. The fox demon was in favorable about Naruto losing most of his idiocy and boisterous attitude, but he shouldn't lose his qualities that made him amusing or entertaining._

_"**Remember this, brat. Those feeble excuse you call whiskers aren't going to be the only features that makes you my jailor. You WILL learn how to make illusions."** The demon stood upright, showing greater difference in size. **"That, or how about we just forget about this whole training? Surrender your will, and let me take control. You can just mope around in this mindscape until the both of us die."**_

_Naruto couldn't believe what he just heard coming from the very demon. After all that pain he'd endured through sparring, all the achievements, and satisfaction he felt._

_He bellowed in anger, "After all the torturing you call training? NO WAY, you damn fox! No turning back! I don't care how many days it's been! How many days there are left! How many times all of you are going to scare me to death, but WE'RE going to finish this hell you call training! No matter what! Now teach me whatever Genjutsu or fox power thingy you've got!"_

_Kyuubi burst into laughter, "**Good…Good…but I'm still going to 'punish' you .Because if there's one thing I hate about you humans, it's doubt."**_

_"Peh! There are a lot of things you hate about us," replied Naruto. Naruto just realized his fatal mistake, even after hearing the word punish from Kyuubi._

_**"Looks like you still have some of that problem of talk first, think later,"** commented Kyuubi._

_Naruto closed his eyes shut, "Okay…fine…let's…let's…let's just get this over with."_

_The demon's shadow loomed over Naruto, a wide sadistic grin._

_---End Flashback--_

He had to agree, the demonic genjutsu did add more fun. In addition, he could pull pranks that even Itachi's Sharingan can't see through. He took great pleasure, and the most recent proof he had was the surprised faces he got after he had transformed to and from into a burning log on the night he sparred with Sasuke.

Lady Chiyo and Ebizou continued jut as they had read the scrolls given to them the night before. They took out their scrolls and summoned their puppets that would replace the three Sand ANBU elites. Kisame was astounded by the appearance of the Kisame puppet which grasped the handle of the sword identical that to Samehada. All of this was happening right under their noses

Lady Chiyo waved her hands off, telling him to get on his way. "Don't worry too much. We know what to do. Now you kids go and finish this."

Naruto jerked his head to the direction of the door, in which then Kisame understood and followed immediately. The Sand ANBU captain was in the lead, with an invisible coating genjutsu all around him and his two comrades following behind. Since Uzumaki Naruto's body contained two different minds in them, he could actually do two things at once if Kyuubi was in the mood. The demon maintained the invisible coating illusion as Naruto making hand seals. The three shinobis ran down through the corridor with incredible speed, passing right through any unsuspecting not so well hidden ANBU Leaf-nins.

"Magen: Kokoni Arazu (Demonic Illusion: Fake Surroundings)." whispered Naruto as they approached one ANBU Leaf-nin that was hiding himself against the wall.

Genjutsu is technique that controls all five senses of the target, so they didn't have to worry if the ANBU could see, hear, smell, or feel any of them. Like the ANBU wouldn't actually taste them…but Naruto had it covered just in case. He didn't know, but he just did. After leading each ANBU into a sense of false security, Kabuto's Genjutsu would take care before they could even sense what was going on. Naruto, Asami, and Kisame's primary mission for now wasn't to take out the guards.

"Itachi should be grateful, you're going to save his brother's sorry ass for the third time. Isn't that right?" asked Kisame, he had his sharky grin under the mask as they quickly passed another stationed ANBU.

Soon enough, Naruto, Asami, and Kisame had reached to the waiting area where Sasuke should be standing just right near the railing. They would replace Sasuke with a shadow clone as a decoy, however they did expect that Orochimaru would recognize the fake Uchiha Sasuke. By the time he would realize he was the one being set up, it would be all too late. The Snake Sannin's own protections would soon prove to be his very own destruction. Asami and Kisame stopped to find that there were two Uchiha Sasuke, and one of them just had been knocked out cold and fell down to the floor.

"Is he one of ours?" asked Kisame, looking at Naruto.

Asami asked a better question, "Who's under the henge?"

The still conscious Sasuke didn't hear a single word what Kisame or Asami had just said, since he just squatted down and repositioned the other Sasuke into a more comforting position. Naruto already saw as to whom was this shinobi impersonating the Uchiha clan successor. The blonde shinobi had another ability courtesy of Kyuubi. Since he had faint traces of the demon's chakra flowing through his chakra system, he didn't have to bother to ever being affected by any Genjutsu ever again. Earlier said, the illusionary technique is performed when the caster controls the chakra flowing through the brain. As one control chakra over the brain, he or she could simply manipulate or trick the brain in handling the five senses it receives from the receptors: eyes, ears, mouth, or any part of the body.

The idea of even performing a genjutsu on a demon for control was absolutely impossible. They can't create any technique strong enough to control a tailed demon's flow of chakra in its brain.

But Naruto had Kyuubi's chakra flowing in him, no one can control it except him or Kyuubi. If his normal blue chakra was controlled, the faint red chakra is more than enough to help him in being conscious of the whole situation. He could then just replace all of his normal chakra, and just switch to just using Kyuubi's own.

In other words, any shinobi can just forget about casting a genjutsu on him.

The conversion of appearance between a person to another person is to place an illusion coating over a shinobi's body. A henge into an object was a different thing, there is a limit in size such as Naruto transforming into a Fuuma Shuriken when he and Sasuke tagged against Zabuza.

Naruto saw right through it, and dropped his own invisibility jutsu. The other Sasuke reflexively held out a kunai that somehow appeared out of nowhere, and drew it right at Naruto's neck.

"Whoa…you might want to put that down, Itachi." said Naruto without the slightest worry, not caring the sharp end of the kunai a few millimeters from his jugular vein.

"Itachi?" Asami appeared behind Naruto.

The elder Uchiha got his first glimpse of the bloody demon mask, he wouldn't have known if he didn't hear his ex-pupil's voice. He had only taken up one student, and it seem he was currently right in front of him. Itachi lowered the kunai, still in the form of his little brother. "Naruto?"

"Today just keeps on getting better and better." chuckled Kisame as he too made his presence known.

Itachi hadn't seen them for over a year, he didn't really expected seeing them as they were right now. Recognizable only by their voices and the hilt of the large Samehada, Uchiha Itachi didn't anticipate meeting them like this.

"What are you doing here?" asked Asami.

"Watching over you just in case you make the biggest mistake in your life." answered Itachi, right at the Sand ANBU captain.

Kisame sneered, "Yeah right,"

"If you're here, then Erro Sennin must be around here somewhere." Naruto didn't see the perverted hermit so far.

"Yes, Jiraiya is here." replied Itachi, not caring the word Erro Sennin in calling the Toad Summoner. "He's really pissed that you came here without telling him."

"So how you got here so fast? Naruto sent that super-pervert to fetch you right when we left Suna for a mission." wondered Asami, trying to figure out.

"This isn't the appropriate time. We'll talk later," replied Itachi. He could see that the second match was about to start, and had transported himself to the stadium in a puff of smoke.

(Don't worry! I got the explanations! Well, I'm not going to explain it right now.)

Kisame crossed his arms over his chest under the cloak, "Wasn't this a waste of time? Coming all the way here for nothing."

Asami was keen to watch what would happen between Orochimaru and Sasuke. "I wouldn't say that."

"Since this is already taken cared of, let's go back." noted Naruto in lead.

-----------------------------Explanation End-------------------------------------------------------

Naruto answered Kabuto's question without being go to the trouble of seeing face-to-face, "A slight change of plans."

"Oh? Something bad happened?" asked Kabuto further on.

"Nope, even better," corrected Kisame.

Uzumaki Naruto got the full view of everyone there down at the spectator seats; every Sand-nin was surrounded though none of the Leaf-nins have made a single move yet. The Sand ANBU captain made his trademark hand seal: the index and middle fingers of both hands making a cross.

"Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)." murmured Naruto, loud enough for only he himself to hear.

During time interval after the explosions and Naruto's return to the top box.

As the remaining Rookie Nine, Team Gai, and many Jounins were guard, all of them notice something wasn't right. It was quick for Team 8 to become aware of it. Yuuhi Kurenai, Shino, Hinata, Kiba, and Akamaru had found themselves an ANBU Sand-nin a few feet away. The instant a smoke grenade had blew up and cleared, its perpetrator hadn't fled or showed any sign of hostility. Akamaru could actually smell chakra covering the floor of the stadium. The white dog didn't know what to do in response, but to whimpering a little to let Kiba know that something was troubling him.

"What's wrong, Akamaru?" said Kiba in worry. Of course the young Inuzuka would worry, being his dog hardly gets scared of anything since it grew up big and strong.

Hyuuga Hinata closed her eyes, opening them again with veins popping out around her eyes. The blood-limit Byakugan was activated; seeing the flow of chakra around or the chakra systems, magnifying and penetrating capabilities, lastly with almost perfect three hundred and sixty degrees of vision.

"There is chakra, and they're…everywhere." Hinata stuttered. Not in lack of confidence, but in slight of fear.

The sudden change of behavior in all of Shino's Kikai bugs confirmed her statement. The Aburame Jounin never felt this before, the sensation of his insects being a bit restless. If he could ask his father about this ever happening, Aburame Shibi would say that this sort of feeling was only felt once back fifteen years ago. When the Nine-tailed Fox Demon crossed the Konoha boarder and was several kilometers away from Konohagakure.

Kakashi sensed it too, having reached Team Gai who also had cornered another ANBU Sand-nin in their area.

"Gai!" called Kakashi in urgency.

"What are you doing here, Kakashi?" asked the Taijutsu specialist at his rival, "You should be by Hokage-sama's side."

"She's fine. There are other important things we also have to worry about." continued Kakashi about the situation.

"What would that be?" asked Gai.

"Orochimaru, he's right down there with Sasuke. And there are three Akatsuki members somewhere around here."

Rock Lee heard that name before, just like everyone else and the public in Konoha, from the time when Sasuke had defected and returned, along with the news of the Hidden Village of Sound's destruction. "Orochimaru?"

"How is Hokage-sama?" asked a nearby ANBU Leaf-nin.

"She's with Gaara at the moment. Don't worry about her, there's no sign of them fighting up on the roof. The real problem that we should handle for now is Orochimaru and three other Akatsuki members. Something happened to our ANBU backup." answered Kakashi quickly.

"So? What do you think we should do?" asked Gai, waiting if Kakashi had better plans. He was sure to believe what Kakashi had just said about Tsunade's condition. The last time he said that Sandaime Hokage would be fine when he faced Orochimaru, they found him dead when the treacherous snake had retreated.

"Take several Jounins and look for the Akatsuki members, I'll have several ANBU handle Orochimaru." directed Kakashi.

Neji decided to speak out, "If you mean the shinobis with very high chakra that's channeling chakra all over the stadium as we speak, then those should be them right at the top box."

"What!" reacted Kakashi, turning back to see to the place he had just left. He had sensed that his shadow clones were long gone, but didn't know who did it.

Just then, eight ANBU Leaf-nins ran out from a close by door, feeling aggravated after waking up from a Genjutsu and hearing a short explanation from Sakura.

Kakashi came up with a new plan, "Alright, the eight of you will follow me. Gai, you take the other ANBU and some Jounins, probably better if Kurenai and Asuma was along, to deal with the Akatsuki."

The newly present ANBU Leaf-nins couldn't argue, they knew of Kakashi's reputation. His achievements at a very young age, the few missions they know of when he worked in ANBU, and the fact of him knowing over a thousand Jutsus.

The Green Beast of Konoha left with the said ANBU and three nearby Jounins towards Naruto, at the same time as Kakashi and the two team of ANBU towards Orochimaru. Leaving behind Neji in charge, a very curious Tenten, and an even higher motivated Lee to watch over the ANBU Sand-nin. The ANBU Sand-nin was paying more attention to the chakra all around the stadium than towards all the Leaf-nins.

The circumstances were much better for the place where Team 10 was stationed. Asuma didn't need to lift a finger since his three Chuunins already had the situation perfectly under control. Shikamaru had restricted an ANBU Sand-nin from any sort of movement with his Kage Mane no Jutsu, (Shadow Copy Technique) and was interrogating him. Chouji decided to help out with his Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Muti Size technique), a huge fist ready to smash the captive if the two shadows would somehow disconnect. Ino seemed triumphant, though she letting the two boys, or probably young men, doing all the work.

"Last chance, tell us what are you Sand-nins up to," questioned Shikamaru.

Nara Shikamaru might be lazy at most of the times, but he always took his missions seriously. Anything was possible, the likelihood of anything turning the situation. One thing could totally mess up and be fatal. It was his first mission acting as Chuunin three years ago that had taught him that. Just when he and Naruto thought that they had Sasuke for good, Kimimaro's sudden appearance and interference had messed up his calculations and plans. However, he considered himself lucky when the possibility of turning the situation in favour of them was present. The Sand sibling's had came and leveled the odds. He considered himself luckier that nobody died, and the mission proved to be a success when Naruto came back with a heavily beaten Sasuke.

He was hard of himself, actually blaming himself. How everyone was admitted into the hospital with severe cases of injuries, and he only had a broken finger. He came up with a resolution.

Shikamaru never took things lightly.

This ANBU Sand-nin still remained quiet, as he had been since he was outnumbered and got caught.

"Fine, then we'll just have to go through that mind of yours." continued Shikamaru. He turned to Ino, the Sand-nin mimicked the same thing. "Ino, if you don't mind."

As to the word mind, Ino held out her hands and aimed at the Sand-nin. Just then, Asuma and the rest detected footsteps coming from the nearby opening from the corridor. It was a Sand-nin, more specifically, Temari who came out with a smug look she always had. Three Jounins, four Chuunins, and Asuma were prepared and yet inquisitive as to her clear confidence.

The Sand kunoichi crossed her arms, leaning to the frame on her left side. "I'd let him go if I were you."

"And what in the world should we do that?" asked Ino, a tone of dislike towards the blonde kunoichi.

Temari raised an eyebrow to the agape Leaf-nins as they watched their own shadows unexpectedly rose up from the floor or walls. This was also the first that Temari and the ANBU Sand-nin see Naruto perform his other variant of clone. Being a ninja always full of surprises, they weren't as taken aback as their allies. The shadows separated from the Leaf-nins' own shadows, like they were a part of it. Some crept out from the shadows of the seated unconscious spectators.

"Shikamaru, please tell me that you're doing this." said Ino.

The shadow binder just slowly shook his head, "Sorry, wish I could."

The shadows each shaped themselves into a particular silhouette of an ANBU Sand-nin that wore a blood red ANBU mask. Details of the cloak, boot sandals, and clawed hands soon followed. Then, their black color began to change; mimicking the real masked Uzumaki Naruto that was presently standing at the top box. A Jounin tried to stab his own shadow with a kunai, but it just grabbed the wrist of the Leaf-nin without any difficulty.

"Now this is what I would call a real shadow clone." noted Temari.

Despite the upturn, Ino decided to make a snide remark to her teammate. "You sure have a nice taste for women."

"Nothing to worry about, we didn't come here to start a war. He just wants you to let his teammate go." Temari pointed her thumb to the still bound ANBU Sand-nin.

"No negotiations," briefed one of the Naruto clones, this one came out from Temari's shadow. An eerie aura was released around him, as he had a kunai pointed straight at Asuma. "Let go and step away."

"Who are you to think that we'd simply comply?" bellowed a Leaf kunoichi, trying to ignore the fact that it was now their turn being outnumbered. "You were the ones that started this whole thing with the genjutsu attack and the explosions!"

"Be quiet! Unless you haven't notice, they have the upper hand both in numbers and hostages." Asuma contemplated his choices.

He made the female shinobi look at the still appearing shadow clones. There were now over dozens upon dozens of completed shadow clones, whether standing at the ceiling, perched on the railings or unoccupied chairs, or standing right among the Leaf-nins. The mix of kunai and shuriken in each hand of the clones meant that anyone of them could just as easily kill ten unconscious spectators in one go.

Hatake Kakashi reached the battleground, an odd scene laid him since he had left Shizune and Sakura's side. Orochimaru and 'Sasuke' had been standing there doing absolutely nothing, while Anko was finally snapping out from the temporal paralysis technique.

Anko heaved a sigh, catching a kunai that launched out from her long sleeve. "Finally."

Kakashi and Anko were worried that the Snake Sannin had already begun his body transferring technique. It was like both Orochimaru and Sasuke had been caught in an entrance or some sort. She lunged and was about to thrust her metal gray kunai towards Orochimaru's heart in no hesitation.

Of course, the kunai never made it halfway.

She was shocked, when all of a sudden, when she felt someone held her tight around the waist. In that brief time, she felt something that she had never felt before in her entire life.

Mitarashi Anko was gone.

Every single ANBU and the man of the Thousand Jutsus couldn't comprehend what just happened. In one moment, the Sand ANBU captain was there, he had stopped Anko's attack. Then, in another moment, both of them were gone. It all happened in a flash. Most of the ANBU Leaf-nins had never seen anything like it before. If anyone blinked the moment he or she saw it, they could've totally missed it. Only one out of the eight ANBU members had seen it before. He was twenty years old when he saw the Konoha Yellow Flash came in aid for the war against the Rock. Now, he was already forty-five and his retirement was anytime next month. He had seen the technique that was fifteen years ago, and he just got the chance to see it once more.

He could never forget it.

"That was-" stated the veteran ANBU to Kakashi, who he knew that the silver haired Jounin had seen that attack before just like he did before the Kyuubi attack happened.

"Hiraishin no Jutsu……..(Flying Thunder God Technique)" Kakashi spoke softly in disbelief.

There was no doubt about it, in a flash and they were gone just like that. It was right in front of their eyes.

Then, Anko found herself being surrounded by Sand-nins. Asami along with Kabuto standing on side, while Ebizou and Lady Chiyo were on the other. Kisame gripped Samehada, its sharp scaly blade very close to Anko's head.

"Move a muscle, and our tall guy over here will chop you in half." warned Asami.

The special Jounin Leaf-nin was confused. Very confused. Anyone would, if they were in one place and then suddenly found themselves in another.

Naruto loosened the hold around Anko's waist, backed away, and moved to the front.

"Lucky you, holding a woman when you could just have grabbed her hand." teased Kisame.

"I might risk ripping her arm off if I did that. We're not here to harm anyone except that bastard." replied Naruto in a stern tone. The blonde shinobi clasped his fingers, finishing his technique.

"I wonder how are they're favoring against your clones," Asami got the wide sight down below.

Each of the shadow clones began to radiate the freakish killing intents, warning every single Leaf ninja that they were dead serious. They were now all over the stadium, possibly outnumbering every conscious ninja twenty to one. It was like they were out for nothing more but pure destruction, and the only thing stopping them was the moment a Konoha shinobi would attack. Nobody had ever seen this many clones made entirely from one person.

In a particular corridor, Naruto's shadow clones on both the front and backsides were now surrounding Shizune and several other awakened ANBU Leaf-nins. This time, the circumstances were different since there's no hostage to be dealt with. The Konoha shinobis were free to fight the various shadow clones without interference. All the ANBU shinobi drew out their katana blades from their backs.

An ANBU Leaf-nin was the first one the make the move.

"Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique)!" She then ran with her sword ready to slash several clones, which had been paralyzed, in one slash. In case of other shadow clones were coming to interfere, she knew that her comrades would cover that.

She slipped. She couldn't believe she slipped. The ANBU kunoichi fell on the floor, but it didn't hurt as hard as she thought it would. It felt soft, or fleshy to better describe. Everyone realized that all of the walls and ceilings all the way as far as the eyes could see had been changed into a fleshy, red pink color. The smooth surface was now a squishy wet fleshy texture, it was the esophagus of a Toad to be precise.

It could only mean one thing.

'_Erro Sennin.'_ thought all the Naruto clones.

All the clones were linked to the real Naruto that was far upstairs, but they all knew what was happening. The shadow clones that had blocked the path, where Shizune and the ANBU were going, gave way or looked at their back. The tall Sannin with long spiky white hair could be seen squat down with both of his palms of the wet muscles that are the floor.

Shizune would recognize that man anywhere, and was actually relieved to see the pervert after a long time. "Jiraiya-sama!"

The name helped a small number of ANBU Leaf-nins recognize just who this weird looking guy was. One of the Legendary Sannin, the Toad summoner, Jiraiya.

"Nice to you see you too, Shizune. Don't worry. It's just my Gamaguchi Shibari (Frog mouth Bind)." responded Jiraiya to his name call.

Shizune sighed in relief.

Jiraiya stood up, clearly the tallest one there, though his frog technique was still in use. The flesh didn't immobilize the feet of the shadow clones or any of the Leaf-nins. He walked casually towards the group of Sand-nin duplicates, both slightly scaring and amazing Shizune and the ANBU Konoha shinobi without the slightest the fear.

"Jiraiya-sama! They're-" warned one of the ANBU Leaf-nins.

"Not here to start a war or pick a fight." finished Jiraiya, carefully looking at Naruto's clones. It was evident since none of them did anything but just stare back at the Sannin.

The leader of the ANBU group, wearing a red rodent like mask, wasn't entirely convinced. "But…."

Jiraiya heard him, but the ANBU just trailed off into silence since they were no longer sensing the feeling of aggression coming from the shadow clones.

"I never thought you'd go to something as far as this." said Jiraiya, a hint of disbelief in his tone, knowing the real Naruto could hear him.

The Naruto clone remained silent.

Jiraiya knew that there were far more shadow clones inside the stadium, "What's with the clones?"

"Tell them to back off, and settle down." The Naruto clone turned to the Leaf-nins.

Jiraiya wasn't going to delay, having the ability to get through and negotiate with his ex-apprentice. "And you will call of every single clone."

The Naruto clone remained silent again, no nod or anything.

Knowing him, Jiraiya always took it as a yes.

Jiraiya commanded the squad of awakened Konoha ANBU shinobi. "Everyone. I want you all to go and tell the rest to do what he just said, and the clones will withdraw once its done. Just do it, and nobody's going to get hurt under my watch. I'll answer to Tsunade once all of this is over."

The ANBU Leaf-nins obeyed directly, taking his word seeing as the Sand ANBU elite clones exploded into puff of smokes just like a Kage Bunshin would when destroyed or called off. They didn't doubt the Sannin for a second, they were convinced that he had the situation under control. Shizune still remained there, worried, along with Jiraiya and the only still remaining ANBU Sand-nin in the very corridor. It gave a last look at Shizune before it too exploded into smoke.

"Jiraiya-sama! Where's Naruto! You have to get him out here! The Akatsuki! They're here!" Shizune panicked.

"Whoa. Whoa. Slow down. Calm yourself, Shizune." advised Jiraiya. "There's no need to worry about that. Naruto's safe. Right now, we have other pressing matters to attend to."

"What's over?" pondered Shizune. "What other matters?"

"Just follow me. We must stop this condition before it worsens by itself." replied Jiraiya. The pink fleshy walls disappeared as the Sannin finished using his technique. The normal cold hard concrete floor, walls, and ceiling could once again be seen.

_'We've got a long of explaining to do once this is over,'_ feared Jiraiya, thinking about what's going to happen to both him and Naruto.

Jiraiya and Shizune went off.

Back at the area where Team Gai took charge.

"Neji, all of them are real?" asked Lee to the Hyuuga in command.

"Every single one of them." answered Neji in dread. "They're no different than Naruto's Kage Bunshin. The chakra is evenly divided, they have flowing chakra circulatory system like the real one, but it's different than the normal chakra system we have."

"We can take them." assured Lee, his hands out ready for a brawl.

"Not without risking everyone here," stopped Neji. "They haven't done anything yet."

True, they could try to fight the shadow clones head on. Neji could destroy all the ANBU clones around him with a Kaiten, with the rest of the Leaf-nins taking care of the clones. Then again, these were clones made from a single ANBU Sand-nin, and he could tell even these clones could simply handle a Chuunin or just kill off a spectator without a doubt.

Several more of Naruto's special Kage Bunshin appeared on the ceiling, as more just rose up from the very shadows of the shadow clones. Their number just doubled, making a small number of the Leaf-nins wonder how in the world could a single shinobi could keep on making clones upon clones to completely occupy an entire stadium.

"What are you?" Tenten faced the demon masked ANBU.

Naruto paid no attention to Tenten's question, the clones took out their kunais and rounded against the Leaf-nins that surrounded their comrade.

They all said in unison, "Back off."

"What?" Lee heard and understood the two words, but said it anyways.

"We're not playing games, weirdo. You heard him, back off." replied the trapped ANBU Sand-nin. He was surrounded by Leaf-nins, but now Sand-nin shadow clones in between surrounded him.

A Naruto shadow clone neared the Sand-nin, "Go to Chiyo-ba-sama's side, it's the top box where the Kage would seat. The others are on their way."

"So we're just going to let him go away?" asked a Leaf Chuunin. "The bastard-"

He decided to shut hi mouth when he began to felt glares coming from some of surrounding shadow clones.

"Is that it? You pull something like this, and think you're just going to get away like nothing happened?" questioned another Leaf-nin.

Neji frowned as to why everybody couldn't keep their mouth shut and let him settle this.

"No." replied a shadow clone, however, he was talking to Neji. "No one is going to pretend like nothing happened here."

"You've already got back your teammate," reminded Neji.

Naruto's duplicate gave the last order, "Then sit down and just watch."

Either Neji or all the Leaf-nins needed to clear out their ears, or they just heard what they think they heard.

"Sit down, and nobody gets hurt." stated the same clone.

It was an odd request: to go back to their seats, sit down, and watch?

"Just do it, everyone. They're dead serious, and so far nobody's even got a scratch yet." succumbed Neji to logic.

They really thought things just couldn't get any bizarre, but they all complied as they sat back on their seats. Those who were stationed or posted on guard duty gave a questionable look at the nearest shadow clone. The clone just signaled them to sit on the concrete floor or staircase.

"Stand up, and we'll be back. No negotiations." warned the ANBU captain as the rest of the variant Kage Bunshin ebbed into the floor and back to the shadows.

"Just what are we suppose to watch?" asked Tenten at the remaining Naruto clone in that very area. Everyone there, except Neji, were trying their best to calm themselves and some Jounins looked at Neji for instructions. The Jounin Hyuuga gave a glare to just remain as they were.

As the head was a few feet away from sinking into the ground, the last clone answered Tenten's question.

"An execution."

As it finally disappeared, a Jounin kunoichi shifted in her seat. Whether she was just adjusting her seat or made some sort of them, it didn't matter. Dozens upon dozens pairs of hand crept out from the surfaces of the stadium, let it be pillars, ceilings, the back of seats, floors, as long as shadows were present. Hyuuga Neji gritted his teeth, clenching with the Byakugan eyes, with a hand signal to tell everyone to not move.

In another corridor, Sakura and Pakkun were hindered by the sudden appearance of Naruto shadow clones. Unlike everyone, she didn't need to worry about the hostage issue. So the Naruto clones were going to fight on with the Fifth Hokage's apprentice. However, she demanded answers in which neither of the clones expected.

"What exactly are you after?" demanded Sakura, after contemplating and recalling back her thoughts. She had done nothing but that since the clones showed up. "There is no way you're after Sasuke-kun. Come to think of it, Sasuke-kun did suspect something about Orochimaru being afraid of …."

She recalled Sasuke saying about his brother joining an organization, but he never mentioned what the name was. Since anything that was related to the Kyuubi and Naruto's seal was to keep a secret, and that included Akatsuki, to anyone that wasn't a Jounin. Her eyes widened when she realized what the word Akatsuki must have meant when she heard it last night after Sasuke's spar.

"Orochimaru is afraid of you. You and your group. That group of yours is called Akatsuki, isn't it? Sasuke-kun was right!"

She was talking and asking like anticipating any of the shadow clones to talk back.

"You're not here after Tsunade-shishou or Konoha! You're after Orochimaru! And…and… you're using Sasuke-kun as bait!" realized Sakura.

Pakkun looked up to the kunoichi, the dog was surprised too.

_'Still clever as ever, but a little bit slow on the uptake. Then again, who else isn't? Still can't stop saying Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun.' _thought every shadow clone.

Elsewhere, Maito Gai and the ANBU members that followed him never made it to their designated place. They tried to ignore all the shadows that were somehow growing everywhere, and focused more in reaching the top box. But they came face to face with dozens of clones already waiting for them. Gai wondered how was his rival doing.

Recovering from the blow of seeing the ANBU Sand-nin grabbing Anko, Kakashi and the eight ANBU Leaf-nins closed in on the disguised Orochimaru and Itachi. Four figures broke out from the battleground, already forming a complete rectangle formation with the two shinobis inside. They were rogue shinobis, undoubtedly believed Orochimaru's every word when they heard that they could a get a chance to be a part of his plan in destroying Konohagakure. A Rock-nin, Cloud-nin, Mist-nin, and a wanted Waterfall-nin. The Sannin had only taught them the barrier jutsu, which was all he needed them for. He no longer had any Sound-nin in his command, and they were just the pawns he needed. Getting followers proved to be difficult, and they didn't seem worthy to receive his Cursed Seals. The chance of them surviving was low, and he didn't want to waste him time.

"Sorry, but no one's going to interrupt Orochimaru-sama's plans." called out a middle aged shinobi with a Rock head protector.

Obviously none of them had noticed Naruto's short appearance and the absence of Anko.

A kunoichi, wearing a Cloud head protector, probably no older than Shizune wasn't going to delay. "We should hurry."

"STOP THEM!" ordered one of the ANBU.

They never had the chance, as all four shinobi did what Orochimaru had told them to. "Shishi Enjin (Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment)!"

The violet walls joined at the front of the four shinobis, forming a huge rectangular barrier between them and the Konoha shinobis. One ANBU would've touched the surface of the barrier if it weren't for Kakashi holding him back. The ANBU Leaf-nins were once again stopped, unable to provide any help. They might as well go back and face all the numerous shadow clones. Naruto and Asami didn't seem to take the existence of the box-like barrier as a hindrance. Kabuto was indeed inquisitive as to which Jutsu that Naruto would use to get pass through it.

"Don't tell me," said Kisame with his eyes still on Anko. "His scapegoats just came in."

Kabuto nodded.

A skinny, bald Waterfall-nin turned his head to catch a glimpse of how his master was doing. Unknown to all four of them, the snake summoner would've called off the plan if he could snap out of the genjutsu. Orochimaru cursed as his plans were being ruined. He never expected this to happen; Akatsuki to appear right in front of everyone just like he had came up with.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH!" shouted the Snake Sannin in great pain, his body twitching and turning as what would be his twenty-fifth time.

Twelve feet away, Itachi had done nothing except standing there and saying the same thing every time Orochimaru yelled.

"Consider yourself fortunate that I'm not using the Mangekyou Sharingan." commented Itachi.

The treacherous ninja already heard that when he was tortured for the first time.

Orochimaru panted heavily again before the same thing that had been repeating itself, ever since he laid his eyes on Itachi's Sharingan, was about to happen again. A snake the size of an anaconda burst out from his stomach, with blood spluttering down all over. He let out another yell as another great pain coursed through his body. It wasn't going to stop there; the snake began hissing on loudly with Orochimaru closing his eyes in dealing with the pain. The long slithery reptile struck and had quickly sunk its fangs into the flesh and bones that was Orochimaru's body.

Another sickening yell resonated into the illusionary world that was Orochimaru's mind.

The sky was black; with no source of light anywhere, but Orochimaru could clearly see everything around, himself, and Itachi. A sight of never ending barren land, it was all bathed in crimson red.

"Consider yourself fortunate that you're not going to die here." commented Itachi.

This one, Orochimaru had heard after he had heard the phrase about him not using the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Under all that pain, he could still feel the cold-blooded animal's venom coursing through his veins, arteries, and capillaries. It was burning him from the inside, right under his skin. The long snake disappeared, after Orochimaru opened his eyes once more. Another snake was going to burst out of his body somewhere, but he didn't knew where. Not that it really mattered. He was going to shout out loud once any second soon. It did. This time, the snake burst out from his shoulder like he was growing another head.

"Consider yourself fortunate that all of this will be nothing more but a painless memory." commented Itachi.

Hearing that for the first time, the Sannin was curious as to what would was going to happen when Itachi would stop his Genjutsu. The Uchiha knew that Naruto wanted to give his own version of punishment. Orochimaru wasn't going to die that easily, and he never deserved that. He was going to realize that his foolish ambition was nothing but a waste of time.

The snake delivered the bite, its fangs twice the number and length.

Orochimaru was going to hear something that he wasn't really looking forward to.

"Consider yourself unfortunate that this is only the beginning." commented Itachi with the same cold eyes.

Time was progressing just like in the real world, since Itachi wasn't using his Mangekyou Sharingan. But the torturing had begun since Orochimaru made eye contact, and he wasn't going to stop until Naruto, Asami, and Kisame would be there to stop him.

Back in reality, Kisame thought that it was about time that they make their move.

"So taichou (captain)…," stuttered Kisame upon calling Naruto captain. Calling the spiky blonde shinobi by his rank was just as infrequent as calling Gaara with the word Kazekage. "Shall we make our move, then?"

Naruto answered Kisame's question by jumping over the railing, down towards all the shinobi on the battleground. Asami followed behind, and Kabuto expected Kisame to trail behind last like he always does.

"She's all yours, Kabuto." The tall gray skinned shinobi leapt over a railing, going to catch up with the two younger Sand-nins.

Anko didn't know what was going on apart from Orochimaru being the Grass kunoichi. Kabuto decided to fill her in anyways since it was about start.

"This is the best view anyone could get from the entire stadium, isn't that right?" inquired Kabuto. "Sit back and just watch."

"Watch what?" asked Anko, though she had a feeling that it had something to do with Orochimaru.

"The public execution of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru."

Just then, Baki, Chiro, Takagi, and a very relieved looking Hirami entered. The total of six ANBU Sand-nins came in one by one, they were pretty much satisfied with themselves.

Chiro confronted the ANBU Sand-nin that had talked to him at the Ichiraku Ramen restaurant last night. It was the ANBU that didn't have eyeholes on his mask, more like vertical spaces like a knight's visor.

"You think there's any chance of him showing some of his really powerful techniques?" wondered Chiro.

"Just watch. All three of them. " answered the ANBU Sand-nin.

The young Chuunin asked further, "But after performing all those clones, you think he still has enough chakra left...?"

The older Sand-nin watched on, "Don't worry, they still plenty more where that came from. We've never seen any of them tire out, so they don't exactly know just how much chakra each one of them have."

"We could only tell from how much each of them eat. You saw them ate dinner last night." added another ANBU Sand-nin.

Anko knew that these three shinobi were related to Akatsuki, and the Sand-nins probably knew too. But hearing from them, it sounded like they were proud and adored the three Akatsuki members.

Down below, on one side, the Sand ANBU elites set their eyes on the very 'monster' behind the violet barrier. The S-Ranked felon that they've been going after for over a year, from the time when they decided to destroy him along with his Sound-nins.

'There's no escaping this time, you snake bastard.' thought up Naruto.

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CRAP! YOU'VE REACHED THE END OF THIS CHAPTER…WHAT A BUMMER. You probably hate me right about now, don't you? I know I would. It's very ironic really. Readers love the author in the beginning of an update, and then hates them when they reach a really good cliffy. Like this chapter for example. Well, you know the drill, RATE AND REVIEW. Wah ha ha ha ha ha ha! I think I finally crossed the 100,000 words mark. 

Sneak Peek for next chapter:

Uzumaki Naruto's ANBU mask comes off, and the battle begins.

(Now that's over, I can finally move the best part I enjoy writing! The fighting!)


	16. Imminent encounter

Hello again, man….my update periods are getting longer and longer. I don't think anything I could do to apologize except to write and post as soon as possible. I've typed and retyped this particular chapter over and over again. It was so nerve wrecking! I actually deleted one whole page feeling it was just off. There's an important announcement at the end of this chapter. I GREATLY APOLOGIZE to all those who had sent and those who had angrily waited for me to update.

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never will. Masashi Kishimoto does.

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Haruno Sakura narrowed her eyes. "You're not after Tsunade-shishou or Konoha! You're after Orochimaru! And…and…you're using Sasuke-kun as bait."

Hoshigaki Kisame. Uchiha Itachi. Akatsuki.

She had finally figured out the name of the organization that Sasuke's brother had joined. The missing piece that she needed in figuring what everyone was so concerned about. About wanted powerful shinobis, Kisame and Itachi being her only clue, and the fact that they had been around walking in Konoha as ANBU Sand-nins. Sakura had been busy trying to find anything that could relate to Sasuke and Naruto, when she and Kakashi were only members of Team 7 left in Konoha. She didn't knew, that she slowly but surely began to concentrate on studying her medical jutsus and spend less time in searching, when Sasuke had found half alive in front of the Konoha gates.

If she continued on researching, she could have found out the vital piece that could connect Akatsuki to Naruto.

Pakkun had to look up to the pink haired kunoichi, a bit flabbergasted by the sudden revelation. But that still didn't have any sort of effect on the shadow clones, thinking they'd just kill her and be done with it. Sakura clenched her two fists tightly, feeling the fingernails as if they were trying their way through her black gloves. She tried to look as strong as she could, glare through one of the shadow clones that were standing in front of her.

"Get out of my way." said Sakura warningly, overlooking whether if he's an S-Ranked felon or not.

Still no movement from any of the shadow clones. Sakura wasn't going to put up with this, and the shadow clones knew it. Her green eyes had more determination than ever.

"Pakkun, climb onto my back and hold on." said Sakura without looking down at the brown shinobi dog. "Or you could just go. I don't want to accidentally hurt you."

Kakashi's summoning understood hearing the utter seriousness of Sakura's tone. He'd seen what the kunoichi could do with those hands of hers on their missions over the time when Team 7 started receiving missions again. Kakashi had told to stick by their side in checking the ANBU Leaf-nins, and he done just that. Sticking by her side right now would prove to be a hindrance, and Pakkun didn't want that.

"You may be right, just be careful. " Pakkun gave a few last words of thought before exploding into smoke.

Tsunade's apprentice slammed down the floor without warning, trying to catch the shadow clones by surprise. Nearby shadow clones had to jump in the air while those at the back backed away a few steps. Sakura swiftly took a piece of the shattered concrete floor, and hurled it through the mid-air shadow clones. Naruto's shadow clones from the side path of the hurling stone concrete pulled the other shadow clones out the path by their cloaks. They all landed, with the crackling sound of the thrown piece of concrete at the end of the corridor wall that turns right. Not a single one were unharmed, and were still surrounding Sakura, with none of them appeared to be leaving this or any time around.

'_Damn, since they couldn't move in mid-air, the other just pulls those out of the way.'_ scowled Sakura inwardly.

Sakura still glared at them, not expecting that things would just easily turn out like this. These were just shadow clones of what she thought was an Akatsuki member, and she couldn't lay a finger on them. They were toying with her, thinking she was weak. Not to being able to handle only one shadow clone. Now, Tsunade's apprentice was gritting her teeth, hating this feeling.

"I'm warning you," hissed Sakura through the gritted teeth. "Get out of my way."

They could see growing determination, and then one of the Sand ANBU captain's clones stepped forward.

Sakura had long decided to become a kunoichi that didn't just sit at the sidelines, while everyone else fought hard. That was way back when she faced the three Sound-nins in the Forest of Death. That wasn't enough. She was determined more than ever, when she felt how weak she was when her teammates, close friends, left one by one three year ago. Naruto. Sasuke. But the young Uchiha had come back, unknowingly against his will, and she was grateful. She remembered how right Tsunade was.

"You never know what you have until you lose It." said Tsunade sagely 

All she needed now was another teammate of hers to come back.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way." Sakura gritted her teeth, giving her last warnings. The Sand-nin standing before must have studied all the things they can about her, knowing that she's the apprentice of a Legendary Sannin that was at the same time a Hokage. She didn't expect that they'd follow her words because the shadow clones retreated to the sides. They fazed into the wall, actually turning back into shadows and disappear. It was all too easy until she saw one Sand-nin shadow clone remained behind.

The shinobi sandals slid partly on the ground and making a stop as the Naruto clone blocked the pathway Sakura was heading to. All the other shadow clones melted and reverted back into shadows before completely disappearing from view.

"Don't underestimate me, ugly." called Sakura to Naruto behind the demon mask. She hated a lot of things, and one of them was someone underestimating her. Looking down at what women are capable of, not considering them a threat. Weak.

The clone stood quite, complaining inwardly. _'I'm not, but I would say that I have overestimated you, bitch.' _

The Naruto clone was deep down complaining, why out of all the other shadow clones he was the one left to handle the pink haired annoyance. Everyone would think that he would use the real Uchiha Sasuke as bait. Asami and Kisame thought he was, since he didn't want to badly beat the Uchiha hard on the night spar last night before dinner.

Nobody else knew this except Kyuubi, but Naruto got the idea in luring out Orochimaru using a transformed Uchiha Sasuke came from fishing. He met Lady Chiyo once in some special underground room where there was actually a well, and she and her brother were fishing. His curiosity got the better of him when he saw what the two elder Sand-nins were using as bait. He never did have any idea what fishing was, just saying that it looked just plain boring. Just sitting and letting time pass. He thought fishing was just tying a worm as bait to a line and threw it into the water hoping that any fish would come by. His first time seeing a fish bait led him to an interesting activity that he would occasionally in spending his spare time with the two elder Sand-nins once in a week.

There were no people to come and bother them. So Naruto was fine with that activity.

"Don't expect me to be surprised or scared when I heard you call by my full name, whoever you are." said the young Konoha kunoichi.

Recalling the very first day where Team 7 and the Sand ANBU elite team on the streets of Konoha. Everyone was left frozen in fear when this demon masked ANBU released his killing intent. How he said something loud enough for only her to hear. The status of someone she thought was a stranger knowing her name didn't confuse her. Sakura was well known as Tsunade's apprentice through out Konoha, and he being a Sand-nin knowing her name wasn't that hard to figure out. Temari probably told several Sand-nins about her in Suna.

The clone really wished that the real Naruto out there somewhere was going to call him off. He got his orders. The clone was glad that he could finally vanish out of existence rather than to be spending another second with his former teammate.

"Whatever. I'm off, " the clone retreated back into the wall he came out from, his features melting back into shadows.

The clone sounded both bored and glad, Haruno Sakura couldn't believe what she just heard. She lunged forward with her fist. A fingerless gloved hand grew back out from the wall and snatched the wrist before the knuckles could touch anything. The grip tightened to a point that Sakura couldn't attempt another attack, bending down slightly.

"Don't, " warned the Naruto clone coldly as his head lowered, "Apprentice or not, whether I'm only a clone or not, I don't care. Don't push your luck against me, especially when you very well know that your mentor is the famous 'Legendary Sucker'."

The clone let go of the hold, the hands backing away as if he had touched something foul. He was grimacing and bored a moment ago, and now he was fuming madly when she had tried to attack him just he had left her a clear passage way.

Only the very red demon mask and hood hadn't disappeared into the wall as a shadow. "Why don't you go into the arms of your precious Uchiha? Instead of wasting your time here. Believe me, I don't want to spend my time with you just as you do. The feeling's mutual. Go look for the real Uchiha Sasuke, that is if you have realized _Sa-su-ke-kun_ earlier was only bait."

Sakura's left hand glowed in green charka, healing the lingering pain at her wrists. She was wondering why she was trusting every word the shadow clone. She was pleased when she heard and understood that Sasuke he saw down earlier wasn't her Sasuke. She got up, the pain was gone. But panic and worry ensnared her heart and mind once more, where was the real Uchiha Sasuke? Is he hurt? Had they captured him, putting him away for her to search like it was a sick entertainment for them?

"Where's is…." Sakura didn't finish, realizing she was now all alone at the corridor.

Naruto walked slowly towards the rectangular barrier, with Asami and Kisame following not too far behind. The Sand-nins and Anko watched from the top box as their ANBU elites appeared like they were just strolling their way leisurely with no worry. Including with the fact that there was Kakashi and the two groups of ANBU Leaf-nins waiting close to the barrier. They would meet, sooner or later.

"Don't look them in the eyes or better yet, just close your eyes." said Kakashi. "Rely on your other senses."

All the ANBU Leaf-nins understood what he meant, as an Uchiha could be one of them, in countering any illusionary skill. The most powerful of genjutsu and mental attacks such as killing intents are mainly achieved through eye contact. Three ANBU Leaf-nins drew out their katana that hung from their backs. Kisame quickened his pace, cutting ahead Naruto while showing Samehada.

The ANBU captain wasn't going to waste his time meddling with some ANBU Leaf-nins when he had Orochimaru just waiting right in there. Naruto released his killing intent, trying to paralyze Kakashi and the rest of the Leaf-nins in fear. They found themselves mustering all their energy in trying to move. Asami and Kisame were a bit apprehensive with the huge amount of killing as they always do. All thanks to a departed Akatsuki member, Fuusetsu Raetsu, that was the only known Snow-nin to ever be registered as an S-Ranked felon in the bingo book. Uchiha Itachi was charged for the massacre of the Uchiha, while Hoshigaki Kisame was charged for killing some important landlords and planning to destroy other countries. Asami's father was charged too, for a higher offence.

The Uchiha killed his clan, however the Fuusetsu killed almost every single Snow-nin in the northern country. Itachi spared only his little brother, while Raetsu spared only a few academy students. Kisame only planned, but Raetsu actually did it. A Snow-nin who taught Naruto about freezing let it be water, emotions, or as to what was right now: the enemies. Kakashi and the Konoha ANBU had managed to block a part of the killing intents' effects. To find themselves struggling in moving like their entire bodies were dragged down by weights, they could put on a fight.

The tall Sand-nin brought up Samehada in level with one of the ANBU Leaf-nin's neck, teasing as how completely vulnerable every one of them were. Naruto was about to take a step when he remained in his place. Asami and Kisame did the same, seeing as the sudden interruption in the air. Green leaves were falling out suddenly; the nearest tree on the field was meters away, and began to blow in a circular motion in mimicking a small faint twister. Of all the Leaf-nins right now…the Kyuubi vessel would rather face anyone else but her.

'_Tsunade-obaa-chan...' _presumed Naruto.

Back in the top box, the young Sand-nins were wondering as to what exactly was going on down there. They couldn't figure out why the ANBU Leaf-nins doing nothing while the three Sand-nins were walking past them.

Hirami looked around for any sign of her other teammate, "I was wondering, where's that Takagi? It'd be a shame if he's not here."

"He's probably still in the infirmary, or may be he's unconscious along with the Leaf medic-nins that didn't realize the incoming genjutsu. That or may be the Leaf-nins got him, torturing and interrogating him as we speak." suggested Chiro.

"May be he had beaten all the Leaf-nins that were in his away." suggested Takagi. The tired Sand-nin was leaning against the wall, and was enjoying seeing Chiro's annoyed face.

"Eh? I thought you were brought to the infirmary." said Hirami.

"And here I am, not in the infirmary." replied Takagi.

"Don't tell me you really beat some Leaf-nins on the way here," pouted Chiro. He realized something after a moment. "Wait, how did you know to go here in the first place?"

Takagi thought that Chiro would've assumed the obvious, but said it anyway. "The same way all of us did, you're not the only Sand-nin that got escorted by Oni taicho's shadow clones."

"How bad did that Waterfall-nin hurt you?" asked Hirami, seeing all the blood stains that were on her teammate's Chuunin vest.

"Nothing too serious. Oh, by the way, thank you so much for that blood pill." turned Takagi to Kabuto.

"Glad to help," replied Kabuto.

"So we're about to see a public execution?" asked Chiro, grasping upon the idea that Naruto was at least after one of the shinobis at the field.

"You should pay more attention, the monster that's going to die down there was the one that killed Sandaime Kazekage. The monster would be that Grass-nin standing in front of the Uchiha." answered Baki.

Kabuto felt a bit blameworthy since he was there when Orochimaru and Kimimaro killed the Kazekage.

"So I faced one of the Legendary Sannin back in the preliminary matches?" caught on Chiro.

His face showed that his brain was slowly processing the appropriate idea in response to the sudden fact. Hirami and Takagi look forward to seeing him fainting anytime soon, after walking out alive from the missing-nin that had took the life on their Kazekage.

"Then my match wasn't counted! There's still hope for me to pass the Jounin exam, right?" cheered Chiro.

The young Sand-nin was going to Anko, but Baki pulled him back by the collar of his Chuunin vest. A swirling of sand informed the surrounding Sand-nins and Anko of the arrival of the Kazekage. Gaara soon materialized right in the middle of the top box, between the disheveled broken chairs. He was no longer garbed in the blue and white formal robes, but in very dark maroon shinobi clothing. With smaller sand brown leather, identical a Sand ANBU's own, strapped front and behind of his chest. Two fastening straps each on his sides, while only one went over his left shoulder. Under the armor like leather was his turtle necked dark maroon shinobi, trailing down and splitting like Morino Ibiki's own. The long pants were the same, average black and his sandals were dark blue. Of course, his get-up wouldn't be complete without his trademark. The large gourd completely made out of sand that was on his back.

He was in his typical pose, his hands crossed over his chest.

"Kazekage-sama." acknowledged the Sand-nins. Only Anko didn't do anything.

Gaara soon became aware of the recent changes that had taken place when he was gone off in explaining to Tsunade. There was a trail of wrecked seats, a decimated wall and ceiling to the left side, fallen debris from the crater like crack in the wall, and Anko's presence among the Sand-nins. He didn't need to fill on what the wreckage was all about, truth to be told he expected they'd be more damage.

He kept his eye on Anko, to which Kabuto explained. "Our taicho (captain) had to bring her out before that shielding jutsu could be performed."

"You don't want to be down there?" said Gaara.

Anko heard him, continue on looking at the Grass kunoichi that was Orochimaru who still hadn't made a budge. She had most of her attention on Orochimaru, while the three young Chuunins look fiercely at her since she was being rude by not replying.

Gaara stepped to the front and immediately had his eyes on his three elite Sand-nins. He knew that the Fifth Hokage was going to teleport down in between the ANBU Sand-nins and the Leaf-nins.

"You told her everything, Gaara-sama?" asked Kabuto.

"The most important matters," answered the Shukaku vessel, making out the small whirling leaves in front of the ANBU Leaf-nins in which Tsunade was teleporting herself. "There were a lot of events that he felt it was best if he and the hermit told her in person. I explained what we both thought was the most important at hand, which was the current status of Akatsuki. "

This caught Anko's interest, she turned her head in letting them know that she also curious as to what was going on.

"You," stated Gaara as he side glanced to the Leaf kunoichi, "are coming down with me to your Hokage. She would want that."

"Does she know? Someone as her caliber would easily figure out our dear captain's identity." guessed Kabuto.

"...She knows, " nodded Gaara.

Kankurou winced, "Oh boy, that doesn't sound good."

"Things could get much worse." added Temari.

"And it is, Jiraiya-sama is heading down there as we speak." said Kabuto.

The said Sannin could already be seen jumping down from the stairs of the stadium with only Shizune following by his side. Kabuto and Gaara thought that they should go down too. Three ANBU Sand-nins came out forward to Gaara, but the Kazekage just slight held out his hand.

"There will be no need." gestured Gaara.

"We better be quick, Gaara-sama," said Kabuto.

Hearing that, Gaara, Kabuto, and Anko disappeared into explosions of smoke.

More shinobis had arrived when Naruto, Asami, and Kisame in front of the ANBU Leaf-nins led by Kakashi. The Fifth Hokage was the first to come out of nowhere by using the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique), between Naruto and one ANBU Konoha shinobi. A flashy move in announcing one's arrival just like Sasuke and Kakashi did in the Chuunin exam just before Sasuke was going to fight Gaara. First, she saw the large violet rectangular barrier that meant Orochimaru was inside and Gaara was right. If that was right, everything else he said must have been true.

Being a very smart and talented kunoichi, she understood a lot of lessons and events in her life. And there were a few events in her life that she didn't quickly accept. It was the deaths of her little brother, Nawaki, and lover, Dan. Presently, she could accept the possibility of knowing that Naruto was wearing that demon mask. Doubting, this person before her couldn't be him. He was tall, to grow this tall and built like a young adult was the first argument she could think of. Tsunade didn't do anything else except staring right at Naruto from the instant she was there before Naruto. Naruto himself was doing the exact thing, knowing that this day would come. Kisame turned between the two blondes, the Kyuubi vessel would truly hurt him if the Samehada wielder said anything. He still had the sharkskin sword close to the ANBU Leaf-nin's neck, and apparently Tsunade was too focused on Naruto.

Naruto knew this moment would come sooner or later. It's just that he wished that the later, the better.

Shizune came in, shouted out. "Tsunade-sama!"

"Tsunade! Wait! Just wait! Hear me out! They're not a threat." called out Jiraiya frantically in arrival. He put one hand on Tsunade's shoulder.

Jiraiya got the impression that she knew about his activities that he'd been keeping a secret for her and any Konoha shinobi for the past three years. She appeared heartbroken. Betrayed. "Tsunade?"

"Why? All this time, why didn't you tell me?" asked Tsunade in a very restrained voice. Her hands tightly clenched into fists, her nails already digging into the skin of her palms.

"Wha…?" Jiraiya didn't fully catch what she meant.

"I'M NOT IN THE MOOD FOR YOUR STUPIDITY RIGHT NOW, JIRAIYA! YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" exploded Tsunade with a few veins popping on the topside of her face.

This startled all the ANBU Leaf-nins, Kakashi, Asami, Kisame, and Naruto himself. For Kisame, this narrowly caused him to accidentally have Samehada nearly graze the ANBU Leaf-nin's neck. Being surprised, the surrounding Konoha shinobis were also wondering what she meant. Kakashi never felt this much confused ever in his life, especially all of this in one day.

'_I'm really starting to understand why Naruto likes her.'_ agreed Asami. The fifty-three year old man was a Legendary Sannin, however he was a super perverted and annoying man nonetheless.

Gaara, Kabuto, and Anko had come into the scene.

'_Why don't we just everyone here down since everyone just keep popping up?'_ thought Kisame in observation.

An angered Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura came out after explosions of smoke behind their Hokage. He was conscious of another Sasuke standing inside the barrier, which confused some of the Konoha shinobi at the seats. There were two of them, one of them being a clone and bait. They were relieved to see that the Uchiha prodigy was still out from Orochimaru's reach. The spectators could make out the group of shinobis of two villages as two sides in a stand off, the Sand-nins easily outnumbered.

Naruto. Tsunade. Sasuke. Gaara. Shizune. Jiraiya. Sakura. Kisame. Anko. Asami. Kabuto. Kakashi was slowly being able to move.

The Shukaku vessel turned on one of his ANBU elites, and decided to relieve the tension a bit,

"Put that away." said Gaara towards Kisame.

Kisame didn't disobey, grimacing slightly, and pulled back the sword safely away from the Leaf-nin. Kakashi, Shizune, Sakura, and Sasuke were astonished because upon what they thought of an Akatsuki member obeying the Kazekage's words.

"I can't believe this. The both of you!" shouted Tsunade once more.

Upon hearing, Kakashi and his two Chuunins would've agreed with their Hokage since everyone just wanted as to what is really going on. For one, Kabuto was on their side and was assisting these people who are Akatsuki members. Second, the idea of the Akatsuki members pledging their allegiance or somewhat working as Sand-nins baffled them. The best idea Kakashi could come up with was that the Akatsuki members were after Naruto. But that was proved wrong when Jiraiya came in. So Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke had presumed that she was referring to Jiraiya and Gaara.

"Tsunade, calm down. Calm down. I know you're pissed and everything, I know I would. But just wait. " said Jiraiya with both hands up to the level of shoulders.

Before Tsunade could start shouting again, Naruto gave a long sigh of defeat. He knew she'd figure it out before Gaara could even tell her. That was a bad idea, what the hell was he thinking when he told Gaara. But if thinking over, it would be worse if Tsunade was still present from the very beginning of the plan, and thought that Suna was up for war.

"I'll tell you, only after this is over. " said Naruto in his usual tone, not stern cold or anything that Kisame would say mimicking Itachi's. Orochimaru was still the top priority.

Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and the Leaf-nins just got more puzzled.

"For now, I don't want any Leaf-nin interfering," added Naruto, just when Tsunade thought he was finished.

Tsunade could feel that Jiraiya was feeling guilty right behind her, and that Naruto had his reasons. Tsunade rose up her left hand, "Everyone, pull back."

"But Tsunade-shishou!" stuttered Sakura in protest.

The only thing the Fifth Hokage did in return was giving a fierce look at her. During the three years of Sakura learning under the Sannin, she'd rarely seen her teacher glaring at her like that. The ANBU Leaf-nins obeyed without a second to waste as all of them retreated back into the stadium.

There was still Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Jiraiya, and Shizune left behind. Tsunade expected that they'd remain behind, since these were the few shinobis that would sometimes ignore her words. One of those times was apparently now.

"Rebelling as ever, eh Sasuke-kun?" spoke Kabuto with a sweet smirk.

"I knew you were still alive after all this time." replied the Uchiha, with his blood-limit Sharingan activated. "But to see you here with the Sand, did you suck up to them like you always do?"

"Before _all _of us leave," announced Tsunade with a sound of threat, not wanting any of her Leaf-nins to be disobeying her this time, that she and everyone else would be leaving, "I want to be sure of one thing from you."

Naruto didn't say a word in return.

Tsunade knew he was deep down still the same, but she couldn't shake off all the doubts she felt now. "Do you still hate them?"

The still clueless Leaf-nins had their instincts keep telling them that somehow they knew who this person was. It was just at the back of their heads, but they just can't figure it out. Naruto's eyes roamed around to all possible angles without moving his neck, with the inhabitants of Konoha sitting all around. The civilians and few fresh Genins were all still unconscious from Kabuto's genjutsu.

The blue eyes finally stopped on Sakura, he didn't want to lie to her. Not this time. "Yeah, I still do. Old Hag."

Tsunade didn't react the way Sakura, Shizune, Kakashi, or Sasuke thought she would. In fact, she actually raised a smiled with her lips after not hearing anyone call her by that name for a long time. Kisame on the other end was trying to hold back, resulted with only by beaming safely behind the mask. Asami knew that he was smiling, so she elbowed him lightly just above his elbows although she was actually smiling herself.

Sakura was trying to contain herself, but managed to say through clenched jaws. "How dare you…"

Shizune had brought her right hand over her mouth, shocked to hearing and recognizing someone calling her with such familiarity. Why Tsunade actually smiled upon such rudeness. Kakashi was slower, but he caught on.

"We'll talk later, old hag. I mean you've already waited three years, several minutes wouldn't matter right?" joked Naruto in a rapid change of personality.

'_He can really change between moods,' _Jiraiya rolled his eyes.

"Come on, all of you. Pull back." commanded Tsunade.

Sasuke and Sakura were still oblivious, but they followed anyways with everyone retreating back into the seated areas. Kakashi was now wary of Jiraiya, he was going to confront him right when they stopped. Kakashi confronted the two of the legendary three. Gaara gave a last look on Naruto before he and Kabuto left back towards his fellow awaiting Sand-nins. Temari and Kankurou were probably waiting for him to explain what had just happened. Baki and the rest might be curious too.

The group of Leaf-nins went to one part of the stadium, where apparently Team Gai was assigned to guard that place. Neji, Lee, and Tenten along with other Leaf-nins present there wanted to know the current situation. The split second everyone had landed there, Kakashi confronted the very man that had taught the Yondaime Hokage.

"Care to shed some light about the current status of one of my _students_?" asked the silver haired Jounin in a not so friendly manner. "Last time I remember, you said that you would take care of him. I left Naruto under your care knowing it was for the best. Instead-"

"I did what I had to. A lot has happened and you might very well get hear every one of them from him." interrupted Jiraiya.

Tsunade was a bit angry with the Sannin herself. However, she knew if she wanted to know the whole story, it would be much easier if she heard from the both Jiraiya and Naruto. Hatake Kakashi still hasn't relinquished his gaze on Jiraiya, one normal eye with the Sharingan on the left against Jiraiya's black eyes. For Sasuke and Sakura, this was one time that they could get some idea as to where as the blonde shinobi.

"He took a turn for the worse, Kakashi, and that's only a mild way of putting It." replied Jiraiya honestly. "I did everything I could to help him. You don't know what has happened."

"And that's why we're having this conversation, so what happened?" asked Kakashi, narrowing his eyes.

Shizune looked apprehensively at the Fifth Hokage, whether she or Tsunade herself would break it up. The Slug summoner just shook her head, waving her hand off dismissively.

Tsunade wasn't going to stop the two Leaf-nins. In fact, she thought that she could get some information out as to what exactly happened. Naruto had said that he will be explaining to her, she believed he will, but it wasn't wrong to know hear out anything from their talk.

" Look, it's very complicated. Sometimes I even ask myself why everything that has happened during all time is so messed up. Believe me, if you hear it, you wouldn't believe it. Took me sometime to fully understand it." Jiraiya

"Tell me what exactly happened. Right now." continued on Kakashi.

"You should hear everything from him, not me. So you'll just have to wait, Kakashi." replied the Toad Hermit, not bothering with Kakashi's anger-restrained tone.

The bristly white haired Sannin let out a long exasperated sigh, sitting on the stairs. _'Hasn't this become the most vexing week of my life. You really OWE me, kid.'_

Kakashi gave a fleeting look of doubt at the Sannin, wondering this in fact was the real Jiraiya or somehow he had been brainwashed by Akatsuki or something. After what he had experienced today, anything was possible. The idea of Akatsuki members obeying Gaara the Kazekage was absurd, but it had happened before his eyes. As of now, those eyes were keeping watch on the Suna ANBU captain.

Uzumaki Naruto gave a last inspection of the whole battleground, and was actually pleased that Orochimaru's scapegoats didn't take the whole place to put up the Shishi Enjin. As demanded, there were no Leaf-nin anywhere around. There were only three ANBU Sand-nins, Itachi, Orochimaru, and the four wandering shinobis. Kisame and Asami were waiting for Naruto to start up his recently created Jutsu; the one that took him the longest time to complete. The fact that it was supposedly to be only a side project, something that he would only spent his time on whenever he was extremely bored.

He no longer suppressed his own blue chakra, and the usual effects came in. The rush of wind blew the surrounding loose dirt around him for only a moment. All the Hyuuga shinobi within the stadium that had activated their Byakugan shut their eyes from the sudden burst. Kisame and Asami decided that they might as well give all they got in fighting Orochimaru. The Leaf-nins and Sand-nins felt as if the air from the field was pushing against them with what felt like inhumane chakra quantities.

"Their chakra reserves are far higher than Naruto's," mentioned Neji. "So this is Akatsuki."

Naruto's chakra reserve was what he knew as the highest out of everyone he met since his first sitting of the Chuunin exam.

Asami and Kisame observed the tall violet barricade, and they would've followed Naruto on if he didn't signal his hands to stay put. Two of the four rogue shinobis got to see him while the other two faced the opposite sides. To say that they weren't the least disturbed from the time he gave out the killing intent to the Leaf-nins would be a lie.

At this point, Naruto had the attention of the spectators in the stadium. The attention he had once used to crave from back then. Then was then, now was now. Right now, he just wanted to kill off his target and be done his business with Konoha. Naruto threw back his sand brown cloak over the back of his shoulders, mimicking a cape, leaving him with unobstructed mobility of both of his hands. His action of biting his thumb to give out some blood had the Leaf-nins and the Sand-nins above at the top box confirmed that he was going for a summoning technique.

Almost all the viewers thought that his further actions would only leave him with two probabilities. He was probably going to summon an animal or an object. Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto's theory was narrowed down to the last one.

The demon masked ANBU spread the splotch of his blood onto the end of all his fingers. Instantaneously, he no longer suppressed his normal chakra and in turn shocked all the Hyuuga Leaf-nin who still had their Byakugan activated.

Naruto didn't slam both palms out wide onto the surface of the earth, being he wasn't going to summon only one thing. He brought his two hands together, much like how he used to practice performing the third level Rasengan in practice. Both of his thumbs were closed together, while the other fingers opened out. He dug all nine points of blood deep into the ground effortlessly, like it was nothing more but sand.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning technique)."

The writings that would usually form out like a web began to spread out through the edges of the large circular battleground. Ending with the smoky explosions at every point where the trail of writings ended at the edge of the battleground. Soon enough, the earth beneath shook to the point that the spectators could feel the concrete floor beneath them tremble. They could hear it out loud but barely see large shadowy figures from inside the smoke erupting from the ground all around. The smoke of debris coming from the various points swept through out the battle arena, now totally obscuring Orochimaru's line of defense and the ANBU elites from view.

Tsunade watched in anticipation, just like everyone was, as the bothersome hindrance cleared. All of them could slowly make out the silhouettes of several large figures now surrounding the Shishi Enjin. They didn't know what it was until all of the smoke was gone. The Leaf-nins were left speechless thinking their heart just skipped a beat, whereas others just stared in astonishment as to what now stood still like pillars.

There were all statues of the tailed beasts.

All nine perfectly arranged around the battleground, looking like huge tombstones, and they appeared that they were made out of stone.

Each and every one of them grandly stood only fifteen feet tall, facing the seats of the spectators. It was just like the sanctified statues of all the previous Kazekage that were placed in the council meeting room. It was the place where the current Kazekage, council members, jurists, and head clans would occasionally together. In front of the Kazekage statues, no disrespect was to be shown and everyone was allowed to voice their opinions as to what to be best for their home.

"Kakashi, is that what I think it is?" asked an ANBU Leaf-nin who had the opportunity in working the man of a thousand Jutsus.

Jiraiya looked nervously at Tsunade, who was already looking at him in waiting for him to explain. He was sweating, giving a nervous smile. "Uh…he decided to get more in touch with his inner self? Aha ha….."

The large head had a feline look, more of a cat; with its lower jaw opening out wide like it would simply break. The whole statue was comprised with bloodcurdling looking features. Its bony muzzle, large tethered sculptured ears, with huge eyeballs bulging madly from its sockets, and large tongue out to the side of its mouth. Its tongue sticking out and crossed eyes made it appear like it was insane, but at the same time dead. The two tailed, or Kyuubi would call recognize as the twin tailed, was a cat. Nekomata, known for its deathly characteristics was a cat that looked like road kill. The bony skeletal cat structure was standing out on an altar with its hind legs. Lines upon lines of intricate seals could be seen at the altar.

"It's one of the tailed beasts." confirmed Kakashi in looking down.

"Like Kyuubi?" asked Sakura.

"A tailed beast." repeated Tsunade. She knew there were other statues like this one, all nine in total no doubt. "Large demonic monsters that contain massive amounts of chakra. They're nothing like monstrous summonings you've learned about in the academy. Each one has a different number of tails, and there are nine of them in total.…I don't think I have to tell you that Kyuubi is one of them."

"Nine of them…." dreaded Tenten.

The Sand-nins were more occupied in watching the Shukaku statue that was aligned between Nekomata and Kyuubi. The statues weren't exactly big enough in reaching all the way for the audiences to get a close look. Chiro leaned forward over the railing, Baki grabbing by his Chuunin vest once again to stop him from falling. He had never seen the real exact form of Shukaku before. Silly caricatures in storybooks or the blank inky painted illustrations in scrolls.

Hunched slightly, small pointy ears, bigger lower jaw, large long clawed hands, short hind legs, a bulging stomach, and one large tail. This was the demon of the desert, Ichibi no Shukaku. Well, a statue but certainly life looking. The nine tailed fox demon took a good look on his statue through Naruto's eyes. Some of the people screamed from where the Kyuubi statue was facing towards them.

'You've got my looks down well. But don't think I'm praising you brat, because you didn't get my good side' said Kyuubi to Naruto.

For Naruto, that was the best praise he could get from the demon fox.

Shikamaru on the far side ran to the side so he could get a better view of the whole battlefield below. The conscious spectators panicked while others tried to remain calm. These were just statues, and Shikamaru really thought it was dumb for them to act like this. Luckily, the al inexperienced civilians still lay unconscious in their seats. The Shadow binder ignored the rest and kept his eyes on the very shinobi that had started all of this. The ANBU captain was currently clasping his hands together, now releasing out chakra everywhere.

The electric blue chakra being released was being discharged, shooting out towards the Shukaku statue. The stream of chakra didn't stop there as it then rebounded of the one tailed beast, and traveled to the second. Third. Fourth. Fourth. Fifth. Sixth. Seventh. Eight. The chakra finally reached the Kyuubi statue and returned to the Shukaku statue, making a complete ring around the field. The bright energy then suddenly ricochets off the nine statues into the sky, over the Shishi Enjin, now making a dome shape. The vigilant Leaf-nins, Sand-nins, and few Waterfall-nins watched as the chakra began to travel haphazardly.

The very earth where the ring of chakra was seen began to crumble, as it seems that the chakra began to dive right into the earth. It rocketed out from another point of the statue before diving down, gaining speed each it shot again. Soon, the chakra was swirling around in a rapid pace forming what visibly should be a sphere.

"I can't believe it…no wonder he…" murmured Jiraiya in amazement. _'He actually finished it.'_

Tsunade turned to the long whit haired shinobi, "Could that possibly be what I think it is?"

Jiraiya didn't give a nod or shook. He was just surprised as she was.

He thought this was another one of Naruto's most preposterous ideas. Naruto told this one would work just like his other seal inventions. Jiraiya knew better that Naruto had surprised him over and over, but for him to achieve such feat. It was impossible or takes a much more considerable amount to come up with something like this. He had done it once again. The whole thing was actually a shell what could be a gargantuan Rasengan, right before his eyes, performed by the help of the intricate seals written on the nine statues. The shell was just the outer part of the Rasengan, always retaining the force and power of the continuous spiraling chakra. Right now, he was using it to act as a barrier, Jiraiya considered this to be a far better blockade jutsu than Orochimaru's own.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and the Hyuuga shinobis could see the sphere shaped chakra with their Doujutsu (Eye Technique). For everyone else, they would be only the half part of the sphere since the other half was underground.

'_Why? Why is it that you have all this power?'_ cursed Sasuke with jealousy inwardly. He knew even without using Kyuubi, he had seen just got a brief demonstration just how high his chakra was without the demon. Right now he didn't care why Naruto was the Sand-nin or going with Akatsuki, he only thought why Naruto just keep on far stronger,

Performing the Rasengan only needed an amount of chakra where everything else was control. The molded chakra is spun, powered, and retained. They were the reasons why Jiraiya said the technique was stronger than a Chidori (Thousand Birds). Kakashi's technique needed a lot of chakra focused to point into cutting, but the Fourth's technique gets its more destructive power from the control of chakra, to retain the grinding power.

Both Jiraiya and Naruto could just as easily perform the Rasengan multiple times to what Kakashi or Sasuke could ever do their Chidori.

"It's another barrier jutsu."

"They decided to make their own little confinement since they're going to destroy through the first wall?" said a newly recruit ANBU Leaf-nin.

Another ANBU Leaf-nin just crossed his arms, "They really don't want anyone to interfere,"

Kakashi knew better, "Barrier techniques serve only two purposes; to block anyone from coming in and to block anyone from coming out."

"Their main purpose is to not let Orochimaru running away." figured out Sakura. "What's going to happen after they're done, Tsunade-shishou? I mean…just who you were talking to back then?"

Tsunade couldn't fully Naruto as to why was he was behaving all that time before he left. She, Shizune, and Jiraiya noticed something was wrong with Naruto after he returned from retrieving Sasuke. Shizune was the first to realize it, when he was cleared from the hospital. The Kyuubi vessel became withdrawn and subtle, which was unlike him. That was when she talked with Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Shizune gave a fleeting look at Kakashi, fully absorbed to the action. She did tell Kakashi if he also had noticed something was wrong which he did. But he was focused on Sasuke, who wouldn't, he had to give a lot more talking with him after that escapade. Hatake Kakashi did find him, after a hard time of finding him since Naruto was avoiding him, and half-heartedly agreed when Jiraiya said he'd take care of Naruto. Back then, Akatsuki was still a problem.

Kakashi was wondering as to who was the other unknown Akatsuki member. He had checked the bingo books yesterday and there was no clear evidence of an S-Ranked wanted Snow kunoichi. There were the possibilities she gained power through out the years, Fuusetsu Raetsu had a daughter or student, or she just wasn't registered in Snow Country's bingo books. Of course, it could be all of them.

Sasuke and Kakashi watched on, with their Sharingan at the prospect below. Jiraiya gave a pat on the sliver haired Jounin's back. "Don't waste your chakra, Kakashi, you very well know it's pointless."

"What's pointless?" asked Shizune.

"That barrier renders the Sharingan and the Byakugan useless," answered Jiraiya, knowing the few features Naruto said if the seal was successful.

Uchiha Sasuke heard him, but kept on looking with his Sharingan.

Haruno Sakura looked him suspiciously, "How do _you_ know?"

"Explain in detail. After what you've done for the past three years, I want to hear you speak everything in detail from now on." commented Tsunade.

"How do I say this…well, that wall is purely made of chakra, in which what Byakugan and the Sharingan being the Doujutsu (eye technique) that are able to see. I don't think I have to explain further that, Tsunade." said the Toad Hermit.

Jiraiya waited for Tsunade to process the idea and figure it out. She always had been cleverer than him since they were under Sarutobi. She was impressed, Naruto was still cunning and resourceful as ever.

The Fifth Hokage explained it further for those who didn't understand, "You can't see chakra behind a wall of chakra. Simply enough, that chakra flowing out there is the exact chakra you would see inside the chakra circulatory system. It's not converted into any other form, as its completely raw, and just having its flow controlled around. Identical to the Hyuuga clan's Kaiten so to speak."

Raw chakra is as the name states, in which they are basically unrefined, not converted. The chakra isn't changed into the elements of fire, water, wind, etc.

"But I thought everyone has their own distinct chakra, so the Sharingan and Byakugan should be able differentiate them, right?" asked the nearby Tenten.

"True," answered Jiraiya, whoever this girl was. "But the minor difference doesn't change much. To put it simple, if minor change was possible or significant, it's like a drop of water into a small puddle."

"Or finding stars during the day. Or may be a Leaf-nin in a crowd of his or her own shadow clones. Or a grain of sand in a sand box. Or-" barraged Lee enthusiastically, trying to help his teammate understand better.

"Lee, shut up already! I get it!" stopped Tenten.

"He's right, Tenten, I can barely make out their chakra paths." agreed Neji, even after using his blood-limit to zoom in. He didn't see Kyuubi's red chakra in the Sand ANBU captain since Naruto hasn't draw out any out of the fox's own limitless chakra reserve.

Sasuke still had his Sharingan activated, hoping that he could at least copy their moves.

"Tell him not to waste his time or chakra, Kakashi. Since you're looking at the works of a shinobi that resents the Sharingan." advised Jiraiya.

"You know quite a lot of things. Especially since you've react like you've seen this technique the first time. " commented Tenten, never seeing the Sannin before.

"Well of course, I'm the great Legendary Jiraiya. A master of seals. Live and travel as long as me, you will learn a lot." recovered Jiraiya perfectly.

"Jiraiya?" repeated Sakura, she turned her head between Tsunade and Jiraiya repeteadly, "Then where's Naruto?"

Lee was eager, Neji were curious as well, however Tenten only looked mildly interested as to the where abouts of the loud mouth blonde Genin. They heard he had gone to travel and train with the Sannin, Jiraiya. Logically, If this man was standing right here, he had returned to Konoha along with him.

_ 'Not one of your best moves, Jiraiya.' _spoke Jiraiya to himself in his mind. Tsunade was also waiting as t how he was going to answer this one.

The Leaf-nins were still waiting for an answer.

"Naruto? He's actually right here in this stadium, said something about giving a surprise. See if anyone of you can find him, though I don't think it will be easy. That boy has grown so much you know, he's hardly recognizable." answered Jiraiya frantically. _'He did age ahead by three years...' _

All in all, he didn't say a lie. The Kyuubi vessel is in the stadium, standing right below to be specific, but in the stadium nonetheless. He would be making another great surprise, probably in appearance just as the Toad Hermit thought. Jiraiya knew he would, '_A great entrance always makes a good impression, you can use it to attract all the chicks around you. You can also scare your enemies half to death.'_

Jiraiya perfectly remembered Naruto, Asami and Kisame bursting into laughter in return, where as Kabuto chuckled in seeing their antics. The Toad Hermit just somehow wished he could forget that.

"You have to admit, these Sand-nins look strong. Same like Gaara." commented Lee seriously.

Tsunade got a hunch that Jiraiya had most likely helped Naruto in creating the jutsu.. With her womanly instincts, she tried to figure out just what Naruto was doing with Akatsuki members. She knew the tall one was none other than Kisame and Naruto was behind the demon mask. The only fact she knew about Asami was that the Sand-nin was female shinobi, duh, she was fast, and could use ice type techniques.

Who as disguising as Sasuke?

"You call all of this a side project?" inquired Asami with a slow three hundred and sixty turn, observing each and every tailed beast pillar-like statues.

'_If this is a side project, just what in nine hells does he have for his main projects?'_ thought up Kisame. He had to think about that later since Naruto had begun to move towards one corner of the Shishi Enjin.

Asami and Kisame gave chase, hearing Naruto's orders by time they caught up with their leader. Naruto had his eyes on the Rock-nin, his right hand's index finger was pointing to the right. Then he pointed both the index and middle finger out to the left. Kisame walked on to the right as Asami walked to the left.

"So it's decided then?" Kisame rotated and left to the pointed direction.

Naruto hadn't been specific, stirring Kisame further on, since that meant he was allowed to kill. Casualties that were either heavily wounded or plain dead were his favorite choices.

Kisame reached the other corner, finding himself a Mist-nin that was holding out on this side of the crook. He could see that the Mist-nin was trying his best to retain a confident and calm look. The nervous expression he now had was all due to the sudden appearance of the pillar-like demon statues.

"Well what do we have here?" smirked Kisame upon recognizing the insignia on the shinobi's forehead protector. "A Mist-nin."

The said shinobi tried to maintain his composure, trying to ignore the large sword user by shutting his eyes tight. Kisame took out Samehada, and slammed it into the ground deep enough for it to stand on its own. He turned between Samehada and the shinobi, "Do you recognize this sword?"

The asked shinobi gave a peek, and observed the large dark scaly sword with one eye. Realizing that he was safe as long as the wall stays like Orochimaru told, the Mist-nin decided to act tough. He replied. "You think I'm scared of you? What about it? If you actually called that piece of kitchen knife a sword."

"Oh…? Kitchen knife you say?" Kisame was going to savor the very short moment in killing this runt before him. "You came from Kirigakure?"

The shinobi retorted, "Isn't it obvious, you imbecile?"

Hoshigaki Kisame was really going to enjoy this day. He glanced at the shinobi's crotch and in a flash back at the face. "Last question, have you been circumcised?"

The shinobi thought that he heard what he just heard. "What?"

"No matter," Kisame seeing that face was amusing as it is. The shark ANBU mask began to change into crumbling sand, finely falling down like in an hourglass. Slowly, but surely, the Mist-nin could recognize what appeared to be gray skin. Then the eyes, frenzy looking as red blood capillaries crept out to the pupils, in which each had the three distinctive gill markings. The gill-like markings waved down over the cheekbones, with the last grains of sand gone. The serrated shark teeth exposed in the wide grin were the final feature that made him inhuman.

The Mist-nin was appalled. "…Who…what…are you?"

"Silly me, I should've introduce myself," chuckled Kisame, "Hoshigaki Kisame, former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Right now, I'm going to be the man that's going to put an end to your miserable life."

The Sand-nin wasn't done yet, pulling the hood down, and then opened out his hand to Samehada. The 'Shark Skin' moved on its own into its owner's open hand at the same time cutting through ground. It began making its crunching sounds, "My Samehada is going to take pleasure in shredding and cutting you down in half."

"Samehada…?" trembled the Mist-nin, watching the mysterious sword seemed to be vibrating and crunching.

"You sound like you've never heard the name before," replied Kisame in a not so disappointingly tone, "I'm starting to doubt if you really are from Kiri. Oh well, I was just going to cut off your arms and legs."

"Forget I said that…I was going for the hands…. Nah…. just playing, I'm going to cut you in half one-way or another. Right from your left shoulder all the way down to the little birdie of yours." Kisame brought his Samehada down into a practicing motion millimeters off the barrier.

"Once Orochimaru-sama is done, he'll kill all of you." Mist-nin tried to sound brave.

Kisame laughed out loud, startling the Mist-nin in response. The Sand-nin recovered from his laughter, and pressed the receiver tied around his neck with his free hand. "Kabuto, you heard that? He said that snake's going kill all of us."

Yakushi Kabuto wasn't giving the response that Kisame hoped for. "I heard that. However, if you haven't notice, taicho's already been waiting for you to finish. So-"

"Be done with it already!" interrupted Asami in the line, being direct.

Kisame was waved off the anger being directed to him. "Keep your pants and panties on. I'm almost done here. Our _taicho _haven't said a word."

This was another event that was possible and sometimes occurred when Kisame would have his way with his preys. Naruto, Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto would always put up with each other's rather annoying and sometimes disturbing habits. Kabuto had his issue with dead bodies, jutsus in manipulating them. He used to be the right hand man to Orochimaru…Asami and Naruto had theirs, where either one would control or try to break the other's bad habit. Kisame had the so-called 'chopping enemies to death' problem in which, with great difficulty, manage to be tone down a bit. He enjoyed scaring people half to death and sees them in pain.

He was doing it, right now, terrifying and playing his prey.

So far, Naruto didn't say anything through the receiver, which meant he still had time. Unfortunately, the Mist-nin wasn't scared as he had hope for since the three's little chat through the communicators.

"A member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist? What a joke," smiled the Mist-nin in return. "No wonder each one of you left one by one. You can forget about laying a finger on me as long as this jutsu stands."

"This little wall? Let me tell you how things are going to happen the moment this wall disappears. How all four of scapegoats are going to die." Kisame now brought his face dangerously near the wall.

The Mist-nin was scared once more.

He jerked his head to his left, the direction where Naruto was facing a bald lanky Rock-nin, "Your friend over there will be breaking the jutsu. Then, YOU will be the quickest one to die as I shred you in half."

Kisame pointed his thumb to the right direction, where Asami was, "Right there, I'd say that shinobi there is going to have the least painful way of dieing."

Kisame couldn't really guess how Naruto was going to kill the two shinobis, may be he was going to use that flashy jutsu of his. _'He kills the most, and says I'm the lunatic swordsman, Bah!'_

That was, until he saw another Naruto exploding into existence next to the real one. However, this one wasn't exactly identical because it already had clawed hands and was slouching like some caveman. He found what he was expecting to see pass behind the Mist-nin, another Naruto on the far side with a shinobi.

"Scratch that, the one far behind you is going to drop the jutsu. The one earlier will the last one to die. The last one and most painful way of dieing." corrected Kisame.

Asami's voice could be heard from the communicator, hanging down with only one earphone in Kisame's right ear. "You done talking! Because we're not got wait any longer."

"Okay, I'm done." replied Kisame cheerfully.

The renegade Mist-nin knew that this tall shinobi standing before him wasn't lying.

So they did, all four of them, cast the barrier on their rear to protect themselves from any attack coming from inside. Kisame held up his sword up high, ready to slice through the Mist-nin's body as mentioned.

Naruto made the chain of hand seals in a blur, then held out the final hand seal towards the middle aged Rock-nin. A hand seal that looked nothing similar to any of the twelve animals in the zodiac. Seeing such thing wasn't much of a surprise, since many other jutsus usually finish in some odd shape. Some just needed the very hand seal only. The few well recognizable examples was the famous Kage Bunshin, and the Yamanaka clan's Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Transfer Technique).

Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto would know this one.

The large crowd of Leaf-nins and group of Sand-nins were anxious. The eager looking Sand Chuunins were waiting, and Baki was aware of it.

"I hope you three are prepared for this. Right now, you have two choices. Look or don't look." said Kankurou.

The young kunoichi and her two teammates didn't understand, true she had never killed another shinobi in any of her missions so far. She had seen her Jounin instructor killed a few shinobis, so what was this Jounin worried about?

"He's right. You might want to consider as to what is going to happen down there." advised Baki, "Killing is inevitable when you're an out-field shinobi. And I know you haven't killed anyone yet."

Hirami didn't understand.

"What you're going to see might be a bit disturbing." explained one ANBU Sand-nin. He recalled how those three perform their kill.

Another ANBU Sand-nin snorted, "A bit disturbing? That's a mild way of saying it."

"Believe him, kid. If there's one thing we're sure of, it's that things are going to get messy." confirmed a Sand-nin seriously.

The young Chuunins kept watch, but still hearing and wondering as to whom the ANBU Sand-nin was talking about. Anko watched along with them, totally forgetting that she was the only Leaf-nin there when Kabuto said about Orochimaru's execution.

Back down, the Mist-nin had been keeping his eyes on the Rock shinobi fearing that he will stop performing the jutsu. Once one of them stops, the whole Shishi Enjin jutsu falls off. He didn't want that. Nobody in his position would.

He shouted to the very limits of his voice box. "KAZAMA! FORGET ABOUT THAT! THEY'RE JUST TRYING TO SCARE US! SO YOU BETTER NOT STOP OR I WILL KILL YOU!"

"Scared?" goaded Kisame in satisfaction. Anytime now, the shield would be gone, and so would this shinobi before him.

Kazama, the Rock-nin, looked around still unsure that he was safe with the jutsu now in front and behind. He swore that he began to hear his own heart beating from the very time he faced the incoming red blood demon masked ANBU. He saw with his own eyes how the shinobi summoned all the large demon figures and finishing it with a far bigger barrier all by himself. All that chakra, all that power, and Kazama felt all that killing intent until a voice through the Sand-nin's receiver made him move. As of now, sweat drops of fear trailed down his face, he was going to die. And he knew it.

Naruto made a set of hand seals in a blur, and pointed out the final hand seal to the Rock-nin. The prospects of seeing the final hand seal unlike the twelve animals of the zodiac didn't really bewilder the Rock-nin since some technique have their own significant seal to perform. Such examples was the well known Kage Bunshin and the Yamanaka clan's proud Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Transfer Technique).

Asami would have recognized it faster than Kisame and Kabuto if all three of them had seen it. It was special since if anyone else performed the technique, it wouldn't have worked. The technique was for now exclusive to only her and Naruto in spite of this not being a type of Hyouton (Ice Release) Ninjutsu technique. Kyuubi mentioned it to be just one of the hereditary abilities they'll pass down through generations. Of course, to make it, certain conditions have to be met.

The Rock-nin felt the mild blowing air rushing to his face, and thought that he must be dreaming. There was a slowly widening rift in the air behind Naruto, and the scenery inside it was totally distinct in comparison. An overcast forest, were massive trees towering up high, looming atmosphere, gloomy dead leaves littered all over the floor, and few rays of sun light reaching down. Naruto stepped backwards, never leaving his sight on the Rock-nin, into the distorted vortex in which it soon closed instinctively. The soon to be dead shinobi heard his instincts yelling inside him.

'_Run! Run you fool! Forget this! You're going to die! RUN!'_

Again, Kazama the Rock-nin felt the same mild blowing air however this time it came from his back. He turned back slightly, all four of Orochimaru's pawns now grasping upon another of their own biggest mistakes ever. They should've brought up the wall encampment from the rear that should be protecting their backs. Kazama now saw the exact rift now behind him, and a rushing attack already struck him just before he was about to cast the barrier on the backside. He felt his chests now being slowly constricted, relishing him from breathing normally, with hands and feet were rendered immobile. However the Rock-nin felt a furry sensation at the same time, and tried to register what in the world has happening to him.

A furry red hand, claws in the end, held the Rock-nin tight in its grip as it can be traced back coming from the opening portal. Kankurou, Temari, Kabuto and the rest of the ANBU Sand-nins knew as to what the clawed hands were connected to. The only idea that the Leaf-nins could think of that it must be some sort of summoning. Baki's three Chuunins were mesmerized when the hand and the Rock-nin slowly began to retreat back inside. The Shishi Enjin was long gone when the hand held the shinobi in its grasp. The Mist-nin that had his sight on Kazama, turned to the horror of the incoming sharkskin blade. The sharp scales that covered the blade shredded its way down through the flesh and bones, just like Kisame wanted.

Everyone watched the gruesome prospect down below, how Kisame had ended the shinobi's life in such simple way. Hirami didn't know what to say or how to react for that matter, as she just saw a man cleaved down into two. She was alone, as still innocent graduated Leaf-nins like the Konohamaru Corp that were left stunned. Ebisu had bent down and shield Moegi from watching such scene, knowing she was still not ready. The other Leaf-nins, mostly experienced Jounins, had heard about it and just seen such demise. The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, known and recognized with their large swords, were infamous in killing perfectly with only one slice. As that wasn't enough, a chilling scream resonated from inside the gaping hole wondering the audiences as to the horrifying end of that Rock-nin.

"OROCHIMARU-SAMA! ORO-"

The shout just came to an abrupt stop, making it more disturbing. He didn't sound like he was out of breath or his cries got muffled or anything. The Sand ANBU captain walked out, without a single blood drop on his cloak. If anyone was close enough, they could here the repeated chewing sounds. The Kyuubi vessel's sibling had once commented that they what like about eating humans were that fact they were deliciously crunchy. They wouldn't choke on such a small chewed pulp, just the problem of having some stuck between the fangs.

Naruto could already see that Kisame was done, with a bloody Samehada, and was reaching to his receiver using his free hand.

"What took you so long?" chimed Kisame through the line, in happiness because he was always the first one to draw out blood.

The two bloody parts of the Mist-nins were apart on the ground, with Kisame observing the recently made bloodstains that were on his sand cloak. The Sand-nin took the cloak off, just letting it drop over the small heap of sand that was his mask, and walked off. Holding Samehada, its hilt was resting on his shoulder, thus Kisame continued on towards the still standing Orochimaru and Itachi. Pass between the two, he saw a Cloud-nin was solid stiff falling flat to the ground while Asami soon stepped over it. The Naruto clone by far was holding the wrists of the renegade Waterfall-nin, who was still pretty much alive.

"**You're weak, utterly weak." **whispered the supposed clone the split second he grabbed the Waterfall-nin's hands.

The shinobi heard the voice that didn't the slightest sound anything human. The blood red eyes were definitely not human since the first time he laid eyes on it. He could feel it burning into his soul. Only he was left, he knew the other were dead when he started hearing the yells and sound of aghast audiences from around the stadium. Kyuubi noticed that his victim was petrified to the point that he was pissing in his pants. Which caused the demon was chuckling.

"**Do try to last as you can. I'm going to relish every moment of your demise." **whispered Kyuubi through the Naruto clone's mouth.

The searing pain began to burn through the very skin where Naruto's clone gripped onto the Waterfall-nin's wrists. Spectators all around could hear the second cry of pain, this one coming from the Waterfall-nin, as his efforts of trying to break off the clone's hold were futile. Next, the shinobi along with the watching spectators were much thunderstruck when the clone turned into fire. They've seen clones disintegrating into sand, splash down into water, or explode into a puff of smoke. This was their first time seeing a clone turn into fire. At this time, the fire was like alive, unexpectedly latching onto the doomed Waterfall-nin, and then began to consume him. Kyuubi's link with the clone was gone, with the fox now looking through Naruto's eyes upon his work.

The loud cry of help and pain continued for several seconds, a small number of Leaf-nins couldn't help but felt pity for the shinobi. Naruto, Asami, and Kisame watched as he continued to flail around madly not to far away. They thought it seemed a bit cruel, he was being tortured, toyed around in a slow painful death. Subsequently, the run away Waterfall-nin dropped flat to the ground and rolled around wildly trying to extinguish the fire. The hollers never stopped, nor did the fire. The bizarre occurred when the fire blazed even wilder than ever upon every fruitless attempt. It wasn't work, so he thrashed all over while lying on the ground. Quite a few Leaf-nins had seen enough, closing their eyes and looking away how in the world could the three ANBU Sand-nins down there could stand and basically watched.

The Waterfall-nin rolled, wriggled, and thrashed several moments more. Stop. Roll. Stop. Roll. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. He didn't move anymore. It was now nothing but charred remains with gray smoke coming off of it.

Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi gave a look of doubt and worry at Jiraiya. This couldn't be their beloved young obnoxious Genin, they couldn't believe he was capable of that.

Back on the field, Naruto lingered for a minute.

'**That never ceases to bore me. '** chuckled Kyuubi comically for only Naruto to hear.

With that finished, Naruto approached the missing-nin that had been on the run since he tore the Hidden Sound apart. Now Orochimaru was still surrounded, still unconscious of his surroundings, as the four shinobi that were linked to Akatsuki were now surrounding him. Itachi was probably waiting, while mentally torturing the Snake Sannin, for Naruto to break off his illusionary technique on the Sannin.

Naruto gripped the apparent Grass kunoichi by the back of the head, taking a good hold on the hair with only one hand. In one immediate move, the Sand-nin lifted Orochimaru up and then rammed the back of his head hard down into the ground. The genjutsu was finished as Itachi, still in the Sasuke disguise, blinked and was a fully sentient shinobi once more. The technique the Uchiha had performed took half of his consciousness as the time flowed in his own made up world was the same in reality. Itachi, Kisame, and Asami didn't interfere as Naruto brought the snake Sannin up once more and dunked the head into the ground easily like it was only water.

The ANBU Leaf-nins and Jounins didn't anticipate the 'Akatsuki' members treating the treacherous Sannin in such way. Those who weren't aware of Orochimaru disguising as the Grass-nin didn't know as to why these ANBU Sand-nins were doing this to the kunoichi. Naruto lifted the head, not noticing that the skin mask over Orochimaru's face was beginning to peel off over the forehead and across nose. Three more times Naruto repeated, and lifted him up where he threw Orochimaru at Asami. The red haired kunoichi just kicked to the Snake's chin, and sent him up high into the air. He fell back down as gravity played its part, landing directly into Kisame's Samehada. The sharkskin had cut right through Orochimaru's ribs, as he was laid limp like skewered fish.

The ever observing Leaf-nins and Sand-nins couldn't believe just how easily they were beating and killing the notorious Sannin that troubled Konoha. The senior, experienced shinobis know all too well that it couldn't have been that easy. They were proved right; the limp Grass-nin slowly changed into chocolate brown and melted into mud. Of course some of the mud fell onto Kisame.

"Come on, Orochimaru, there's no where to run. So just come out so we can kill you." announced the former Mist-nin.

All four of them could detect the charka coming from under the ground several feet away, and Orochimaru knew that they sensed him. The Sannin came out into the open, rising out from the ground like it was mud. The skin mask was completely peeled off, as it dangled from his face. They say the familiar pale white skin, yellow slit eyes, and the purple markings over the eyes. He didn't look pleased or amused as he usually had; instead there was a minor frown just over the corner of his lips. Even after all that beating, he had spilled a single drop of blood.

His plans were crumbling; it always has when it's too good to be true. It happened when he thought killing Sandaime (The Third) Sarutobi was going all too well. He had failed to destroy Konoha and almost lost his ability of using all his Ninjutsu. Again, when he thought Tsunade was about to heal his hands. Again, again, and again. Retrieving Sasuke was too slow; he had to quickly change into a new body, having to wait until this time. When he had Sasuke in his grasp, he hadn't thought that Akatsuki would meddle with his plan too soon. They should be busy with collecting their Jinchuuriki. He had lost Sasuke and his main village. The following months after that, each and every one of his base were being destroyed. So he decided to go into hiding, and wait for this day.

What was so wrong in to become the ultimate human? To become immortal? To learn every Ninjutsu there is?

He grabbed the hem of the light green long sleeve shirt he wore, throwing it away like a magician as he was now fully clothed in his usual attire. The light gray short-sleeved clothing worn over his long coal black sleeves, the purple tied around his waist, and the usual pants and sandals. The Sannin assessed his chances and plans; he was completely over powered in fighting four against one. Orochimaru could survive all of this if he could somehow play his cards out right. He really needed his small army.

The sixteen Kages, and he needed every one of them to be sure. Then that will type of four against one match in which he'll gladly fight in.

"Let's just cut to the chase and fight shall we? I'm not here to hear you blabber like you always do." stated Kisame with his large sword pointing out to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru finally changed that grimace into a light devious smile, the Sannin recalled how most of the Akatsuki members were simply excessively confident. "Very well,"

The battle had started.

Naruto held out both hands in a scarecrow manner as Orochimaru brought his thumb to his mouth and bit it. The two katanas, Rikimaru and Kirimaru, had exploded into existence in the hands of the Sand ANBU captain. Orochimaru began making hand seals with the bloody cut out his thumb. The Fox knelt down on one knee thrusting both of his blades into the ground at the same time the Snake slammed his hand onto the ground. Only the Sannin declared the name of the recognizable technique where all the shinobis knew the instant he bit his thumb. Another summoning technique.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The explosions of smoke obscured the whole battleground once more from the ever-growing anxious audiences. The mist-like hindrance began to disappear, nonetheless the sitting ninjas of the different villages had heard nothing yet. There was nothing happening, it was if the fighting shinobis down there were waiting and going to let the spectators watch.

It was a battle zone.

On one side of the fighting field was Orochimaru, surrounded by what could be over thirty of his summons. The Snake Sannin was standing on the head of the summons, a safe distance away from the four shinobis. He was in the middle, from what was a horde of them. The spectators could make out that they were nothing animal like, as they all stood on two feet and looked human. Besides Orochimaru, only Kabuto and a certain Leaf-nin had seen such summons before. The Leaf-nin tightened his grip on the railing he currently holding on, and watched on. Nara Shikamaru already had it bad fighting against the three of them and Tayuya of the Sound Four.

The summonses were what Kabuto would call as Doki, Angry Demons, as they are nothing of the usual animal summoning. Each of the ogre-like monsters had some sort of material in closing their eyes. Bandages, messy long hair, or they had been sewn together shut. No two of them were similar, one had only the right hand, and one had the left, so on and so forth. Each one equipped with weapons ranging from clubs, swords that are far bigger than Samehada, scythes, and claws over the arms.

Orochimaru hoped these pawns would give enough distraction to them and enough time for him.

He wasn't completely sure if that plan would work after what he saw on the other side. Asami, Kisame, and Itachi felt as if they were standing on would seem to be a land ravaged by war. Copies of the pair of katanas struck into the earth were covering everywhere on their side of the ground. The entire field was wide for what should be only two shinobi fighting out for the Jounin exams. Now, it was entire occupied by the new appearances. The people should know by now that the great number of summons and multiplied copies require tremendous amounts of chakra.

Tsunade and Jiraiya could relate such scene with what would be the front line of the great shinobi wars. There were remains of weapons everywhere, in dead bodies, in the ground, and some on the trees. Decimation wherever the eyes turn to.

'_Tajuu Katana Kage Bunshin. (Multiple Sword Shadow Clone)' _thought off Naruto for the recently performed technique.

Kisame, Itachi, and Asami were going to let Naruto handle this one since he already decided and had made the first move. Still down on one knee, Naruto unbuttoned and opened the kunai holster on both of his thighs simultaneously. Both the right and left hand grabbed upon the desired item easily since it was the only different object beside the harp kunais in them. There were tags with seals written on them, much like explosion tags, and then he flicked the two pieces of tags between his fingers. The two tags were flicked on between Naruto's fingers, flying and sticking at the handles of the original set of his katana.

Kisame turned his head slightly to the shorter Uchiha who still hasn't dispelled his transformation. Uchiha Itachi was short; however Uchiha Sasuke was still shorter than his brother. The younger of the Uchiha sibling was only fifteen turning sixteen years old.

'_That's right, Itachi doesn't know that Naruto could perform the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God).'_ noted Kisame, looking at the top head of Itachi.

Naruto swiftly pulled out only one of the two of them had the tag sticking at the handle. He took two steps, randomly picking one of the copies out. He left the other original pair of katana still imbedded in front of Itachi, Kisame, and Asami. It would seem utterly ridiculous for the watching shinobis above, one shinobi against the mass number of summons. The Sand-nins tried not to blink as much, not wanting to miss anything happening. The Kyuubi vessel was about face one of the angry demons that stood several feet away. In an instant, the cloak flew back as being carried by the rushing air against it.

He disappeared in front of all their watchful eyes once more.

The next place Naruto could be seen, he had stabbed using both of the katana in his hands deep into someone's flesh. If Orochimaru or any the people of the Five Country had seen an elephant before, he'd see what the wounds puncture by two tusks could be compared with. The puncture had caused the ogre looking demon to move back, Orochimaru also felt it, and looked down. A wild yellow haired shinobi wearing the same demon mask stood there, purposely not moving just yet so that Orochimaru could see him. When the Sannin had turned and saw him, Naruto disappeared once. The surrounding demons were to slow. Only the swords and one other thing remained there from where the Kyuubi vessel once was. The blood red demon was left in the air momentarily, before falling down to the ground.

If Orochimaru knew what the technique was, he would've look far over the heads of the summons. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi, and the vigilant Sand-nins did what Orochimaru wasn't. Keeping their eyes on the other half of the battleground, not on the demons, but on all the swords from the moment Naruto ran forward. They hardly saw it.

Another two of the katanas had disappeared.

* * *

The great Bahamut Slayer uses the Hiraishin to instantly end another chapter. Man, I'm good or what? I understand if I don't get as many reviews as the last one since I totally lied about posting sooner and everything. I'll try to make up for that. Somehow… 

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: VOTES ARE NEEDED** in posting the next chapter.

Do you want me to just post whatever I've written every two weeks or just wait for me to update when I've typed a satisfying length? (Note: I update after writing ten pages or more )

Is the rating of the story still under the T category or M category? (I mean I don't think it's that blood gore or that violent is it?)

Do you want Itachi to be part of the fighting between the Sand-nins and Kage?

I feel so timid and ashamed to ask this, most probably for not keeping word, so...RATE AND REVIEW, PLEASE?


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